On the heels of the tragic Newtown, Conn. school shooting which left 26 people dead, this evening "Piers Morgan Tonight" invited Larry Pratt to the program to share his strong perspective on the firearm debate.

"Since we have concealed carry laws in all of our country now, people can get a concealed firearm. And yet, we have laws that say not in schools," the Executive Director of Gun Owners of America said. "And so in the very places that have been sought out by monsters such as the murderer of these adults and children, we're saying, 'no, we don't want you to be able to defend yourself. It's better that you just sit there and wait to be killed.' And we find that morally incomprehensible."

Pratt says he's deeply disturbed by the anti-gun supporters. It's "deeply disturbing, that the desire to defend life has been so cast aside. And to whatever political correctness views guns as the ultimate evil. Evil's in our hearts. Not in the guns."

The staunch defendant of the Second Amendment tried to explain that the gun problems in America occur solely where guns aren't allowed. "The problem occurs, sir, in those areas precisely where we have said no guns. The problem doesn't occur where the guns are allowed freely to be carried to be used by people. There we have very low murder rates."

soundoff(1,165 Responses)

Thourya

Good evening,
I strongly support your position and your tone Piers Morgan. I am an elementary school teacher in Montreal, Ca and I can't visualize a teacher with a gun. Pratt should question himself about what he thinks the mission of a teacher is or should be and what model would he propose to his students.However, I don't agree with you Piers when you use the term civilized countries (versus what ? quite insulting for people from non western countries that nevertheless have a long deeply rooted highly civilized culture which is not necessarily western (we shouldn't confuse some violent youth or groups and the whole country and its peaceful and wise people). I hope you'll discuss this important aspect with some personalities from the civilized non western world. Thanks, Thourya

And I strongly support your opinion, Thourya. As for Mr. Morgan, he actually had to play the same game as Mr. Pratt and sometimes you have to use words that stupid, racist and dangerous people can understand. Final word, USA seems to forget that the 2nd amendment was billed at a time when it took 30 seconds to put powder in a gun.

As an ex-officer I'm somewhat concerned that your argument, while correct, is too focused on AR15 weapons. You have neglected to address the other concerns, among them handguns (made only to kill people; they're not hunting weapons), armour piercing bullets – again, people (cop) killers, and the other weapons and protective gear (thinking of the LA robbery and shootout) that have no place in the 'hunting world'. I personally would like to see a ban on all, but especially on the weapons whose only reason for manufacture is to kill another human.

Wow, ex-officer Russ wants all "non-hunting" guns banned. You'd think an ex-officer would know what the main purpose of the 2nd Amendment is, and that purpose is neither hunting nor target shooting. Sad.

I fully agree with your comment regarding the 2 amendment. Our founding fathers never could have visualized a citizen having the right to own a gun like the AR-15 - capable of firing 30 rounds in less time than it took to load and fire a musket.

As a grown man who grew up with a war veteran/professional gunsmith for a father, I thought I could add a liitle something to this. Every gun, pistol or rifle, is first and foremost a single shot gun. Whole wars were fought with single shot guns. The problem comes when we decided it is legal to have high capacity magazines for these rifles and pistols. If they would ban the use and possesion of these magazines yes, their would still be some out their, but if the punishment was very high if caught with one, you would start to put a dent in 'assault' style murders. Their is not a single animal that you hunt..other than humans..that you need more than a four to six shot magazine. The NRA cannot deny this fact! Please don't get me wrong, I own a six shot revolver for personal home defense and for when I am out in the mountains, I live in the rockies of northern Idaho. I have never once thought " God, what I would give for a 18 round, high capacity magazine right now" Let alone a 30 round capacity or more! Assault rifles are for spraying many bullets at once, usually without perfect aim, in less than perfect conditions(like the jungles of Vietnam), to achieve a goal of collateral damage in high numbers, unlike a hunter or home defender, who should know how to use his gun with some precision. Imagine if these murderers had to change out their low capacity magazine every six shots! Ban the high capacity magazines..not the guns! Godspeed to all the victims.

'Assault' rifles and pistols, are only 'assault' because of their ability to handle, and shoot many rounds of ammo. An AR-15 is a single shot, semi auto rifle(unless illegally modified to be fully automatic), that you could actually use for hunting. Only when you add a high capacity magazine to it, does it becomes a full blown 'assault' style gun, INTENDED FOR WAR TIME USE! You can have your 'assault' or war style rifle..you just cannot have high capacity magazines for them legally! Twenty years in prison for a first offense for possesion of a high capacity magazine. If the time comes that the average citizen really has to pick up arms to defend this country from terrorists or invasions(real war time) from other countries, I guarantee you our government will be handing out all the 'assault' guns and ammo we could possibly need or want in a very short amount of time!

In response to wessied's comment about my father teaching me. You did not clearly read my comment or, clearly read the second amendment. I did not say that you could only have a single shot gun, It is ok with me if the clip capacity is six. The second amendment does not say anything about you having a high capacity magazine...they did not exist! And third, you do not know what you are talking about when you talk about saving your ass from a bear. If a bear is that close to you, chances are he stalked you, and you will not even have time to respond period! You sir, read my comment with blinders on, and a narrow, uneducated mind! You do nothing to help out the second amendment rights you hold so close. You are NOT a spokesman for my gun rights..that is clear from your rants!!

lol, "I didn't say you should have one shot. I said you can have SIX." lol.

That's gonna suck if my home gets invaded by 7 people, I guess. Or by three people if I need more than two shots for any of them. Cops hit criminals an average of, what, like 23% of the time? That's 4-5 shots per criminal, and that's a "highly trained" cop doing the shooting.

And read the 2nd Amendment again. "Shall not be infringed" is right there.

From what I have read only Wesseid understands what the second amendment was written for. It is not about hunting or target shooting. It was written mainly for 2 reasons. An armed population is much harder to invade, that part Kyle you got right, but the other reason was to keep the government in check. If there ever came a time when our government became so repressive that we needed to over throw it, I myself wouldn’t want to be the one standing in line waiting for the government to give me a 30 round clip. Back when it was written they probably did not imagine assault rifles with 30 round magazines, but it was believed that the citizens should have the same arms as the government. That is the only way to keep the government in check. Our great country was born out of revolution from a repressive government, this was fresh on the minds of our fore fathers when the 2nd amendment was written.
I do not believe that teachers should have to carry, but I do believe that if they wanted to they should be allowed to. I also strongly believe that if the principal had been carrying there would have been shots exchanged at the entry and the shooter would have never gained entry.
Timothy McVeigh killed 186 people, 19 were children under the age of 6. He used fertilizer and diesel fuel. Sick people kill other people for no reason. Do we blame the car when a drunk driver kills someone?
I own guns, I target shoot, I hunt and none of my guns have ever even been pointed at another person. I was raised to respect guns, but foremost to respect other people. We live in a nation that glorifies violence and then we are shocked when something like this happens. I can turn on the TV and watch CSI or other shows like it where there are mutilated bodies and people being killed in all sorts of bizarre ways. I can go to a game store and buy games that emulate what this shooter did, burst into a room and shoot up everything in graphic detail, but this violence that we feed our children every day is OK. We are reaping what we sow. If we raise our children on violence we will have violent young adults.

Hey Wesseid,
I'm also a retired officer. For the past few days I've been reading your mindless dribble and have come to the conclusion that you and other brain amputee "experts" on the second amendment will not change. I do know this, however: Change is coming, certain weapons will be banned, but second amendment rights will not be infringed upon. Since you support private ownership of assault weapons (presumably you have one), that will make you a criminal. Oh well, one less redneck buffoon walking the streets.

Hey, Kyle Foster, the First Amendment doesn't say anything about you using a ballpoint pen or a computer to exercise your freedom of speech, so I'm going to need you to turn those things over to the government right now. Thanks!

"We're not going to infringe on your right to bear arms. We're just going to ban your guns." hahahaha

What's scary is you probably treated people during work the same way. "I'm not going to infringe on your rights. I'm just going to pull you over by pretending you touched the center line or swerved."

Anyway, I'm sure you won't mind when all of law enforcement gets their "assault weapon" AR-15s and "high capacity" mags banned, since police are civilians not military. Can't have civilian police running around with "military" weapons, you know; can't trust civilian police with those kinds of deadly weapons "which serve no hunting or self-defense purpose."

You're all for taking those deadly, non-sporting guns away from police, right, Gerhard?

Larry Pratt was the most credible, because he kept his cool. Piers Morgan used a very intimidating interview style. He prefaced his questions with too many assumptions. He was unfair. He should have secured Larry Pratt's agreement to the assumptions first before asking the question. As it was, Larry Pratt had to spend too much time correcting the false assumptions that preceded the questions. Then Piers Morgan would interrupt him as he attempted to correct the erroneous assumptions. Finally, Piers Morgan was incredibly rude toward a guest he undoubtedly invited in order to rudely attack before a nationwide audience. I see above the hype and the hysteria. it is Piers Morgan and his followers who are blind, not Larry Pratt. Nowhere was Larry Pratt saying all teachers would be required to have guns. he was simply saying that those teachers who wanted to defend themselves with guns should be free to take training and arm themselves. He truthfully pointed out that one semi-automatic pistol with a ten round clip would have evened the odds against someone with a semi automatic rifle. We need to get through our heads that this was not an attack with an automatic weapon. It was an attack with a weapon that required a trigger pull for each shot. A handgun would have been equal to the rifle in the first critical seconds of the gunbattle. It is absurd to think that a typical homeowner or business owner is going to be able to defend himself or herself with a one shot pistol. When second counts, a defender needs more than one round, and it helps to have an automatic reload mechanism to increase the odds of survival.

And some people also forget how just 90 years ago how Germany passed Gun Laws, Russia passed Gun Laws and soon Millions of UnArmed people were left defenseless to the GOvernments that Killed Millions of People. Don't think it can happen today... Think again!

Why can't you visualize a teacher with a gun? If a bad guy is going from room to room killing people, I sure wish a teacher had a gun. Hell, give a kid a gun. The outcome can't be any worse than what it already was.

You'd apparently rather have a bunch of dead children and teachers than to have them at least have a chance to be protected by a teacher with a gun. Why are you so afraid of an inanimate object that a teacher could use to save childrens' lives?

I work at an elementary school in a middle class community of 150K population in central IL. Our 500 student population includes 3 small classes of EBD (emotional-behavioral disorder) students. These students (ages 5-10)routinely throw things, hit, have temper tantrums and can be extremely impulsive and aggressive. The thought of any civilian in our school carrying a gun terrifies me because I promise you in our school, that would be an accident waiting to happen. The whole idea is ridiculous.

The answer to reducing the chances of these awful shootings happening is complex and includes not only tighter gun control, but also figuring out how to stop the culture of violence which has desensitized our youth to violence and killing.

If you can not trust a teacher to care about your child's safety, how can you possibly trust them to educate those young, impressionable minds and fill them up with knowledge and ideas? After all ideas are the most powerful driver of human action!

wessaid, you're a basket case: 7 people coming at you and bears and alligators, too!!! If a medical examination were required for you to own a weapon, you wouldn't be allowed to throw a rock!! Next time you have nightmares about alligators coming to get you, reach for the gun on your night table, and ...... No one would miss you

For the same reason I have flashing lights and a siren on my car and you don't. Calling me a dumb cop shows you are unstable and devoid of respect for others. I recommend you see a mental health professional and get something done to increase your self esteem. Fondling your gun won't help you, professional help will.

As an American citizen, born, raised, and educated here, I hold a position in a grade school as a first grade teacher. I currently hold a Masters in Teaching that I received here in my country, the U.S.A. and I have never committed a crime other than a traffic violation. If someone were to enter my school with the intent to do harm to our students, I would definitely want to be able to defend my little 6 year olds in my classroom with a gun that was holstered on my person.
I am very concerned about CNN allowing a host such as Piers Morgan to go on air and insult someone that had a valid argument that so many grieving viewers agree with. How dare he thoughtlessly carry on with his thoughtless arrogance, when so many of us wish there was a time machine that we could go back in and have even just one teacher with a gun to save our poor angels. Piers Morgan did not give his guest Larry Pratt courtesy to answer questions and then further insulted the guest with derogatory remarks. This is unprofessional and upsetting to me. I have enjoyed Piers Morgan in the past as he rose to fame on U.S. televisions Celebrity Apprentice. However, as an interviewer, he plainly stinks trying to play a role as Jerry Springer. At least Jerry Springer would give his guest a greater amount of courtesy.
Out of respect for the fallen victims that I wish I had been there to protect with a firearm, I will not watch another program with Piers Morgan every again. Out of respect for quality programing, I will not watch CNN every again as long as Piers Morgan is employed by them.

Regardless as to where you stand on gun laws. this was the most unprofessional, obnoxious behavior by a host I've ever witnessed.. Being passionate never excuses mean spirited insults to someone who has an opposing opinion. If Morgan prefers heavy handed government control, I suggest he returns to the UK.

You are so correct. I went into watching that argument with an open mind about assault weapon bans. But Piers Morgan's slide into name calling and insults convinced me to revisit the facts. No wonder CNN has slipped to a distant third in the cable news ratings when they feature a Brit expressing senseless emotional arguments against an issue that our country is deeply divided about. So basically he offended all but the most ardent gun control advocates who may represent less than 20% of the population.

I totally agree with you, Rachael. Piers Morgan's unprofessional rants and vitriol detracted from the interview. In fact, I couldn't even focus ... or hear ... Mr. Pratt's viewpoint because I was so astounded by Morgan's out-of-control rage and indignation.

I agree. Piers should return to UK where violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European union and stick to Britain's Got Talent since that's where his intellectual depth is. He is no match for Larry Pratt's logic and reasoning and he blew up.

I agree with you completely. Everyone that opposes owning guns of any kind talk about having meangingful conversations, but then attack those personally that take an opposing view. I am an avid gun owner and actually possess more than one AR-15. I am open to tighter restrictions on purchases at gun shows, more stringent background screening processes, a more thorough evaluation of mental capacity/stability and maybe even a compromise on the restriction of magazine capacity for certain firearms, but I don't believe that the people like Piers Morgan truly want to and are capable of that discussion. I believe most of those opposed to guns only want to assail those of us that don't agree with them.

I was appalled by Piers' ad hominem attack on Larry Prat as well. As an independent, I often turn to CNN as it seemed to be somewhat in the middle. Those days are apparently long gone as was depicted by Piers' emotional, biased attack. I have always been in the middle on gun control but these irrational, emotional outbursts, like Piers', only make me side with the Right. Pier's outburst was reminiscent of an angry, emotional teenager unable to process facts or dispute Pratt's statements as one would expect from a news analyst. I'm wondering why CNN features Mr. Morgan on their network at all as he lowers the network's legitimacy of credibility and objectivity.

god bless piers....finally calling a spade a spade when it comes to the overzealous gun loving wingnuts.
...note how pratt disses mental illness and simply erases it as "evil" their overly simplistic views of the world, embraced
in fears of all sorts, are truly the thing to be scared of....it's the evil and black vs white, us vs them bunker mentality that is the evil part, if there is any.

no dude you obviously have already pulled out your pumper and loaded me full of lead....i said overzealous...did you miss that one? just as you probably agree with pratt that mental illness is really evil? duh....

no dude you obviously have already pulled out your pumper and loaded me full of lead....i said overzealous...did you miss that one? just as you probably agree with dufus pratt that mental illness is really evil? duh....

Canali 1 my post was not intended for you, hence me starting with "John". my apologies for my post being where it was. i do find it amusing how fast you bashed me even though nothing i posted had to do with what you posted. just saying

the USA should have some common sense and get rid of most of their guns
only police and gun collectors and people who belong to gun clubs should have that right
but you people are like sheep (follow the leader)
the second amendment is about a strong militia,you have one it's called the US army
the people better support Obama and start getting rid of your guns, never mind what the gun wing nuts think.

Since you display the characteristics of a typical sensitive overly emotional tree hugger without a comprehensive and intelligent argument and resorts to common liberal name calling tactics, how about I call you a dumb sheep in exchange for you calling any gun owner a "gun nut. With 230 million guns in America you dumb sheep are quite the minority and you're childish name calling will do little to make any of us ashamed to own guns. Good luck with trying to ban guns-won't ever happen.

I know several teachers that could & would likely carry concealed if given a chance. Wimps and anyone uncomfortable carrying should not but then they should be paid less – since they are of less value & need protection too. Offer an additional $100 a month to a teacher or janitor with a concealed carry permit and a committment to carry and I bet you'd have dozens step up. Also this is really a good job for a volunteer armed millitia. A good militia is trained and capable of handling a planned attact by a group. Something we have yet to really see... but likely will.

We have thousands of unemployed vets that could be in every school. Put two at every school! They have training and that will save millions of tax payer dollars! Then pay then a decent wage. It's simple, and will kill to birds with one stone. Protection for the kids, and jobs for vets. If you don't like this your Un-American!!!

Boy, you are dumber than I thought. Proof in the reverse? There are hundreds of laws aimed at keeping guns from criminals, yet they still have them. Is that the proof you are looking for? Again you answer my question with a question.

Armed policemen at private schools where the political elite send their children and grandchildren is a good thing. Armed policemen at a public school where regular people send their children is a bad thing.

That kid was on Anti Depressants and 90% of these case are Medication and Psychiatrist related.
Our idiotic Lame stream Media REFUSES to cover that. The Kid in Australasia was in a hospital for 1 year before he shot up his town And he was being fed anti depressants.

1. Ma'am, you are a Canadian. Your opinion on our gun policy has about as much relevance as that of resident alien Piers Morgan.

2. No person has suggested that *all* teachers should be required to carry guns as part of their duties, only that teachers who were qualified concealed carry permit holders should have the option of doing so. No one has suggested that a teacher's role or job duties would compel him or her to carry a firearm.

3. As far as what good an educator with a firearm can do, you should research the school shooting by Luke Woodham in Pearl, Mississippi. Woodham beat and stabbed his mother to death, then went to school and killed 2 students and wounded 7 others. He went out to his car to reload. An assistant principal went to his vehicle, grabbed his own lawfully-possessed pistol, ran Woodham down, and took him into custody at gunpoint w/o ever firing a shot. Seconds counted and the cops were only minutes away. The assistant principal saved countless lives BECAUSE HE WAS ARMED. Had he been allowed to carry his firearn concealed on his person, he could have ended the carnage far sooner.

4. The only person who can stop a murderous bad guy with a gun is a motivated good guy with a gun.

ococobb, do you actually have a factual dispute with the points I made? The facts of Pearl High aren't asinine–it is indisputably what happened. Sorry reality doesn't fit your agenda. You and resident alien Piers Morgan seem to have similar debate styles. Are you a red coat as well, or just "morally obtuse?"

Its true GUNS DO NOT KILL PEOPLE BUT MORE PEOPLE WITH MORE GUNS KILL MORE PEOPLE. If the islamists or taliban had no guns they could not force people to do things they do not want to do. Similarly the idea that an armed insurrection in the USA could succeed is a pipe dream. You do not have weaponry equivalent to that of a government and never will. As for self defense it is only valid if you are aware that you are being attacked. Killers don't call you out! So that blows both the most quoted reasons for keeping the 2nd amendment out of the water. It is only in America that half the population feels naked without a gun and in most other countries few of the population could afford one.

The British, in the main like Americans in general but are sorry that you are so set on this path of self destruction.

Your argument on self defense is flawed to say the least. Just last week here in Las Vegas 3 armed men broke into a 72 yo mans house in the middle of the day. He called 911 and grabbed his pistol. When they came through his door he shot 1, the other 2 turned and ran. The police that responded caught 1 and the other is still on the loose. Had he not had a hand gun the police would have found a dead home owner. There is a rising trend of home invasions and they are armed. I for one will be shooting back.

if the teachers would have had guns the punk kid would have ben killed before he hurt a child, take the guns away and then the mental idiots will come in with bombs or knives, then what? you going to band those to or stop the perps with kindness???

It's crazies like this nut who need to be confronted with a lunatic shooter in an unsuspecting place of tranquility. How soon could he and his gun toting buddies restore order and to what cost to the people around them? I don't buy it and something needs to be done IMMEDIATELY to get assault weapons and mega-ammo magazines off the market!

Columbine happened in the middle of the Assault Weapons Ban. The VT massacre was done with two little handguns. This shooter went from room to room shooting defenseless children, (who were made defenseless by being forced to be in a "gun-free zone" btw).

Magazine capacity limits would have had no effect on any of these shootings. What evidence do you have that capacity limits would do anything other than make people with an irrational fear of guns feel better about their irrationality?

Too bad you don't care about protecting kids as much as you care about posting nonsense. It's not contradicting myself when I say Columbine happened during the last assault weapons ban, because Columbine happened during the last assault weapons ban.

Btw, tonight I watched a Nightline special about guns. A lot of it was about the huge number of gunshot victims in Cook County, IL. Guess what Cook County, IL has? That's right, an assault weapons ban.

there will always be guns in the hands of criminals just like drugs, drugs have never been legal in this country yet anyone can get them, so how you going to protect youself when the criminals continue to have guns and law abbiding citizevs dont and cant defend themselves, i will always have guns regaurdless of what the goverment says!

Piers is not correct! He is a loud mouth idiot with a bully pulpit. If he is sooooo great how come he has to refer to name calling? Such a 3rd grade thing to do. Get some training for a weapon, get some respect for that weapon, oh yeah, can you tell me how we are supposed to ban crazy? Because its the crazies with these weapons that you are really mad about! Take away the guns, and crazy WILL find a way to kill again. Humans have been killing each other since time began, and we will continue to do so. See, good typing and my trigger finger isn't even tired!

I wrote this on the facebook page, but I really want Piers to read it, so I'm trying to put it somewhere that he'll see it.

Amazing show tonight! I've got a few thoughts regarding tonight's discussion that I'd like to share:

I just got my teaching degree, my fiancé is a high school teacher, my sisters and brother are all teachers, and my parents are both teachers. None of us would feel comfortable being required to carry a gun at school. In Kentucky (where I currently reside) law it is required that the gun course is "no longer than 8 hours." I am a very quick learner, but I would absolutely not feel that less than eight hours would be sufficient training for anyone, let alone teachers. Schools are not the place for guns.

I feel like tragedies like this bring out what is closest to everyone's hearts. You are intensely passionate about gun control. Dr. Gupta talked about how he thinks that mental health needs to be taken on in a "homeland security" type fashion. Other people are concerned about video game violence. I agree so much with all of these things! But I think that while we need to pass the laws on gun control, change our healthcare system, and crack down more on video game content, we need to use all these things to change our culture. It's our job as parents, future parents, teachers, and, ultimately, humans, to model and teach a safe culture.

We need to change the way our culture sees gun violence, starting at home and going all the way to Washington. At home, we need to put away the video games, turn off the television, and play with our kids. At school, we need to enforce the "zero tolerance" policy against bullying and threats. In communities, we need to educate people on mental illness and change the way we deal with it. In our country, we need to pass laws that make it illegal to buy weapons like the ones that have been instrumental in three mass shootings this year alone, as well as change our healthcare system to actually help mentally ill people.

Above all, we need to, as a society, stop glorifying violence. Our movies are more violent than ever, the media shows incredibly graphic things from tragedies all around the world, and video game graphics are getting increasingly "real." While I understand that movies are just movies, the media reports what it sees as being relevant and important, and games are just games, developing brains have an incredibly hard time distinguishing what they see on the TV from what's "okay" in real life. We are more violent right now as a society than ever before and, contrary to what one of your guests said tonight, it is a culture specific to America. We need to make sure that our children are not seeing violence on a daily basis, and we need to start that now.

Thank you so much for all your work covering this tragic story. It's hard for us all, but we at home can turn off the TV and go do something else; you will be covering this for a long time. You had a brilliant show tonight and I can't wait to see Cory Booker on tomorrow night!

What gun control laws do you think would have stopped this shooting? The guy stole the guns, so a background check didn't matter. He was shooting defenseless children, (who were made defenseless by being forced to be in a "gun-free zone), so reloading wasn't a problem. He didn't need an "assault weapon" to kill defenseless children and could have used pretty much anything.

Even if you somehow banned all guns and removed them all from the entire country, those children, being completely defenseless thanks to removing weapons of defense from law-abiding citizens, would have still been defenseless to a sword or a knife or a bat. Tell us how gun control laws would have stopped this guy.

So what finally stopped this maniac from killing and finally turning the gun on himself? ?... The people with guns! The police. It were guns that stopped the killing! Had "guns" been there sooner, there'd be less fatalaties. If these heroic first responders had not shown up as quickly more would be dead! Unfortunately, it was the presence of guns that STOPPED the bloodshed!
Do we realize that it is FAR too late to remove all guns from America? Laws ONLY affect the law abiding citizens. Enacting laws for gun control DO NOT AFFECT THE CRIMINALS! Why leave these deadly weapons solely in the hands of evil?

We all watch the same violent movies and have the same video games all around the world..yet its the ol USof A which has the largest religious followings and yet the largest ( in the western world) number of gun deaths.
America has never stopped invading and killing people since WW2...thanks to terror terror terror you lot are so paranoid and so removed from reality that you deem it necessary to allow the pentagon to murder people with unmanned drones in countries on the far side of the planet .Is it any wonder your citizens follow the example of the pentagon and go about murdering defenceless individuals .

What if an armed police officer was in the room? Would that be ok? You'd like to have an armed police officer protecting your kids wouldn't you?

Next question: if an armed police officer is ok, then it's not about having a gun or not in the classroom but about who has it. It would seem logical that if a teacher had the same gun training as a police officer that it would acceptable for the teacher to have access to a gun.

Thank you Kinsey, and thank you Piers.
I believe "no guns are good guns"... But those of us with this opinion are over-shouted by bully's that think personal attacks, one-off examples, and circular "illogic" will get more to side with them. Stop, think and then speak. What if it was your child? What if there was only a millisecond to process and react? What if you we're the shooter's parent? In none of these scenarios should/could/would a gun make anything better.
Piers isn't debating the policies of one country over another... He's emotionally invested in the tragedy itself. He's trying to find a potential solution. Like Obama said – if there is anything at all that could stop another tragedy like this, shouldn't we at least try?

The first answer is fathers in teh homes– responsible fathers. No the progressive media does not touch this, because it is the progressives goal to destroy the dad-mom and the kids home. In so doing the progressives 110 year dream of government as the new dad will have been fulfilled and we will blindly be the whining slaves we have become.
However Kinsey, I agree with one thing you worte – Parents must be responsible, take back the schools and become God-fearing parents, banning the violent videos, films, etal in their homes. Parents – dad and mom are the real answer. I am in my 7th decade and have seen this abominable and abysmal decline in our culture.
When I was a boy, running on the stairs and chewing gum was the school hood crime. Nearly 30 years ago we had cops in the school ( Mgy , AL) We as parents have failed. We no longer control opur government or schools, or so sadly, even our homes. We parents are the problem, We abdicated our repsonsibility and have become slaves to godless progressive government tyranny. BTW, I do not have an AR-15.
I Iived in Russia for a decade. It is the classic government control experiement in our lifetime. No school shooings there, but the murder rate in our town of 60 k was 3 every two weeks. Chicago has a hard time beating that dark record. No guns in that town, only knives, ice picks, an iron, forks, but mostly fists and feet were the culprit. Kinsey , what should we do with the feet and fists????????????????? The rate of fatherless homes and irresponsible fathers is abhorrent in Russia. That problem solved, will solve the other problems, like school shootings, mall shootings, breakins, drug use, and all that tears down an orderly society. Good fathers would not permit it.

I see the dribble keeps spewing from your mouth, it is too bad your brain can’t back any of it up. When you can debate intelligently please try again, until then please just keep your thoughts to yourself.

If you were anymore educated, you'd would cite your sources in order to debate intelligently here and seem credible. Obviously, you're incapable of civil debate and thus fail to pursuade others to your side, pal!

My sources on your stupidity is all of your past posts. You sir are the one who has not backed any of your dribble with fact or source, because you can’t. I wouldn’t even reply except that I find your stupidity to be amusing.

I would like to hear every gun advocate and politician you interview to answer a few simple questions.

What would you do if you do if you lost your son to gun violence?

What would you do if you lost your daughter to gun violence?

What would you do if you lost your gun?

What would be worse?

The other day on your program there was a gentlemen who tried to stress the point that tragedies like the one at sandy hook elementary would happen less often if more people had guns. The man in this clip seems to be echoing that sentiment.

I am 33 years old and I can recall many incidents throughout my lifetime where people have been brought together in sadness because of mass shootings.

Try as I may I cannot recall a single time where people have been brought together in celebration because a member of the public used their gun to prevent a mass shooting.

When a mass shooting does occur in America the airwaves are full of chatter about change and prevention and powerful people express sadness and offer condolences.

Eventually, as time passes, these events fade from the headlines and the families affected by the bullets are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and move on as best they can.

Eventually, as time passes, another mass shooting occurs.

The same powerful people occupy the same airwaves with the same rhetoric as before.

These powerful people seem powerless to affect any sort of change and the rest of us are left to wonder why.

The powerful people are scared to take action, scared to stand up to the gun industry, scared to lose votes, scared to lose their power.

A coward walks into an elementary school and slaughters innocent children with automatic weapons.

A government full of cowards does nothing to prevent it from happening again.

You have proven a very good point, after the memories fade, police will be reassigned from the schools, shopping malls, movie theaters, etc. and there will be no one there to serve and protect the public. Police can not be everywhere 24/7, though they may try, they are reactive (always waiting for a 911 call) not proactive because writing tickets for a burnt out tail light is equal to the pay that police earn, seeking out evil is not easy, it is difficult work. Ever wonder why Police stations, court rooms, prisons have more protection than the rest of the population? Police do not, can not trust everyone. Again proof the government does not trust "We the People" with firearms. Did not the founder fathers of this country advocate violence against the dominant ruling government England with firearms, it would be the same mindset if a group of lawyers today advocated overthrowing our current government, a government which is doing the same thing that England did 2036 years ago to the colonist. 236 years is not a long time ago, memory fades.

You have proven a very good point, after the memories fade, police will be reassigned from the schools, shopping malls, movie theaters, etc. and there will be no one there to serve and protect the public. Police can not be everywhere 24/7, though they may try, they are reactive (always waiting for a 911 call) not proactive because writing tickets for a burnt out tail light is equal to the pay that police earn, seeking out evil is not easy, it is difficult work. Ever wonder why Police stations, court rooms, prisons have more protection than the rest of the population? Police do not, can not trust everyone. Again proof the government does not trust "We the People" with firearms. Did not the founder fathers of this country advocate violence against the dominant ruling government England with firearms, it would be the same mindset if a group of lawyers today advocated overthrowing our current government, a government which is doing the same thing that England did 236 years ago to the colonist. 236 years is not a long time ago, memory fades.

People scared of weapons make it a crime to possess those weapons in an area. They even post signs saying "no weapons allowed." Criminals don't care about laws, so they don't care about the signs. Criminals like easy targets, so they go where the signs are since they know everyone will be defenseless. All the "no weapons allowed" laws did is remove the weapons that could be used for defense from the law-abiding citizens who would use them to protect people.

All the "no weapons allowed" laws did is create a safe working environment for criminals.

The criminals have their weapons. The law-abiding people are forced to not have weapons and are thus defenseless. How does banning law-abiding people from possessing weapons they would use to protect people make any sense?

There's a recent interview of a concealed-carrier who may have stopped that last mall shooting just from the shooter seeing him draw his weapon. (The shooter then killed himself.) The guy was ready to shoot the bad guy, but at the last moment he saw an innocent person behind the bad guy, and if he missed he might have hit that person.

Now imagine if another good guy with a gun was there but at a different angle and had a better shot.

Your question isn't even a fair one since most famous shootings happen in "gun-free zones," so there generally aren't any law-abiding good guys with guns there to stop the bad guy because the law-abiding people have been made defenseless and so only the bad guys who don't care about laws anyway will have guns there.

If the teachers at this school even at least had guns locked up in safes, they would have at least had a chance to protect themselves and those kids. But they couldn't even try because they were in a "gun-free zone" so only criminals will have guns there.

Yeah, ya know, you're right. Im not sure of the last time Ive heard about a non-massacre. Maybe there was no story to speak of... Thats a good thing.
I say we enact a law to remove all arms from the bad guys. Maybe they'll turn in their guns. Then and only then we can all disarm.
(Having always feared/hated guns and the armed public, I am a future RESPONSIBLE AND EDUCATED gun owner. I see no need for assualt weapons or large mags, but I will never bring warm butter to a knife fight, nor is there time to wait for local police to arrive with their time machine)

Of the incidents on this list more than half occurred in areas where laws permit guns. Some even took place on military bases where people not only have guns but they are trained to use them.

My question to you below is not unfair, you just don't have an answer for it. Instead you hide behind the fallacy that people are only victimized in so called "gun free zones". The fact of the matter is that people are shot on daily bais all over America and very rarely are crimes of any sort, let alone mass shootings stopped by people legally permitted to have guns. In a country where there the guns will soon out number the people these "gun free zones" are not as common as you would have us believe. The fact is that America is literally armed to the teeth and rather than being a nation where the citizens defend themselves and prevent crimes in progress on a regular basis it is the nation where the citizens are most likely to be victimized by gun crime.

Fact: More than half the guns on the planet earth are owned by Americans

Fact: More than half the people on planet earth killed by guns in the last decade are Americans.

You're gonna have to do a lot better than just repeating some "gun free zone" line you hear on television to explain how more guns would make America a safer place.

On Piers Morgan tonight, 12/20/12 I believe I heard Piers say the NRA has 4 million members. Now imagine only 4 million of these members actually "control" and dictate governmental policy here! Dismiss the majority here. Mind-boggling!

Every last time I watch Mr. Morgan I end up wondering if the world could ever see a more pompous a$$ and it never fails that the next time I mistakenly go back for another dose, he manages to redefine arrogance, ignorance and hypocrisy all in the matter of a handful of minutes.

Again, we ask what was CNN thinking when they replaced Mr. King with this amazing idiot. I remember when contrasting views could be discussed without the constant drone of extremism oozing from the "host". I remember a man who could ask a question and actually allow someone to answer.

Most of all I remember a man who could respectfully disagree with someone without resorting to behavior reminiscent of a spoiled child when confronted with fact's they can't argue against.

Does CNN really need to sponsor the Rush Limbaugh of the left in the endless quest for ratings?

... and before the first anti-gun zealot jumps in with the typical "hail of insults", I don't own a gun. I don't feel the need to have a gun & I see little use for gun ownership outside of a handful of situations.

I am on the other hand very tired of the ignorance that believes the fantasy that "gun laws" are going to change human behavior. I would actually support draconian controls if only to take it off the table so we can move on to solving the problem. Eliminate the guns and when the killing goes back to the way it was done in Bath MI or Oklahoma City, perhaps then the simpletons like Mr. Morgan will be silent long enough that the rest of us can speak.

I was a victim of a violent gun crime. If I had access to a gun or had a gun in my hand I still could not have protected myself. It happened so fast. This idiot Pratt doesn't know what he is talking about. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. And the mental health subject is also very close to my husband and I. Many years ago before the spectrum of autisim was even discussed My husbands son, Brian (we now believe suffered from asbergers) was angry with his mother and pulled out her gun (from her night stand) and shot himself.

Teachers in their classrooms hearing gunshots from down the hall or in another area of the building who then lock their doors and huddle the children into a corner would have plenty of time to even unlock a gun from a safe and load it and be prepared to shoot whatever forces its way through their door.

A teacher with a gun could have saved children's lives that day. But all the people who passed their "common sense" gun laws so that only bad people would have guns made all of those children and teachers defenseless targets. "No guns allowed" signs at schools may make people feel better, but it doesn't stop bad people from doing bad things, and it makes everyone at that school an easy target. "No guns allowed" is like a giant neon sign telling the criminals where all the defenseless people are.

All the scared-of-inanimate-objects, irrational people and their ridiculous feel-good laws are partially responsible for these and similar deaths. They are the ones who pass ignorant laws that only serve to disarm law-abiding people who if they had weapons could at least try to protect themselves and little kids.

Thank you...such garbage out of the mouth of this idiot. These morons are the reason we have to get the guns, if this is one of their leaders, God help us all. Please keep this in the forefront, no citizen should have the the right to carry an assault weapon. period

Read up on what the main purpose of the Second Amendment is and then come back. (hint: it's not for hunting or target shooting.)

And then after you do that, explain how no "assault weapons" would have stopped Columbine, Virginia Tech, or this shooter. Columbine happened in the middle of the last "assault weapons" ban. The VT shooter used two little handguns. This guy was strolling through a school filled with little kids along with adults made completely defenseless due to "no guns allowed" laws that only keep guns away from law-abiding citizens.

Excellent point, lets not discuss the very real issue of what our country is going to do about the true issue of mental disturbance. I will never watch Piers Morgans show ever again after tonight's blatant excuse for ignorance and bad reporting.

Already forgotten? It was Ronald Reagan as governor from California who closed the mental hospitals. It is the Republicans who want to stop more spending especially on public health. That costs money and if people are not willing to pay for it the mentally ill will not be helped.

I work in an elementary school and would never suggest guns be kept there. There are too many ways for a tragedy to happen with loaded fire arms and many children around. There has to be a better way, one which stops troubled people taking their frustrations out on innocent victims. Maybe banning guns that can fire more than 10 rounds which would be considered assault weapons. Teaching love and kindness, respect and caring to children.
Today we had a Christmas sing along at our school. While singing Christmas songs I looked around at all the beautiful young children so happy and excited about the holiday season and had such a hard time not crying for the lost lives at Sunny Hook, for the beautiful children who lost their lives and I'm sure were as excited as our students were about the Christmas season coming. And the adults who lost their lives, how they too must have been looking forward to enjoying this holiday season. Such a senseless tragedy. May the people of Newtown find some level of peace at a time when we
sing songs of peace on earth good will to men.

I haven't looked at Australia lately, but the UK has a similar gun-death rate now as they did before their more gun laws, so their gun laws didn't really change that. But what more gun laws did change is the UK violent crime rate. After passing more gun laws, the UK violent crime rate is now more than 4 times higher than the U.S. violent crime rate.

@ wesseid. If you look at the death rate, you are absolutely wrong. FYI, 59 people are killed every year with firearms in Britain, but 8,777 are killed by guns in the US (per capita, the rate in the US is 30 times higher).

I'm not wrong. You are comparing the UK vs. the U.S. I am comparing pre-gun laws UK to post-gun laws UK. The gun laws didn't actually do much of anything other than help greatly increase the violent crime rate.

great idea, but too late. There are far too many guns already. The bad guys will always have guns in America and we cannot leave ourselves defenseless.
Help the mentally ill, lock up & correct the wrong doers, raise two parent families, instill morals, teach faith, love and kindness. Love your children and neighbors. Embrace the gift of life and teach the same. End hate and suppress EVIL.
Prayers for the Sandy Hook victims and for their families and to all those affected from senseless crime and murder.
It appears either side of this argument weeps the same. Thats a GOOD thing.

less guns=less violence would only be true if the criminals would also disarm themselves. passing laws to keep firearms off of the street would only apply to law abiding citizens. This would decrease the number of fire arms in the law abiding sector and not affect the criminal sector. i am not sure how good your math is or if you understand ratios, but this would only help criminals.

Does anyone see the utter insanity of this argument that to protect themselves, US citizens and teachers no less, need to arm themselves? In the US? The most developed nation in the world. The leader of the free world? Their citizens need to arm themselves to feel safe not from external forces but from their own countrymen? If there is a better definition of insanity it escapes me.

I simply offer the example of Scotland/UK, who after their own school massacre (Dublane) dealt with the guns issue and eliminated the means of mass murder. You'll always have the one of's, but the capacity to execute on the scale of Newton was removed. And that's what it is all about. The evil will always be there. You simply want to limit or eliminate the ability to execute on the scale we say in Newton.

Mr. Morgan. Thank you for standing up to these gun loving idiots. I would suggest you answer their questions of "more guns" with the following.
More guns only leads to more sophisticated and deadlier guns. This is nothing less than an ARMS RACE.

The argument that guns are safe in the hands of law abiding citizens. This is pure BS. Everyone with a gun is a law abiding citizen UNTIL THEY SHOOT SOMEONE. These idiots talk as if anyone who has an NRA membership would never end up committing murder.

Mr Morgan-
I'm amazed you even have a TV Show, you have some of the most transparant, slanted views and from an immigrant is pretty disgusting. I found your interview with Mr Pratt to be very insulting and one sided to the point that accepting any less than your crap media spin for the sheeple of american, would be immediately shot down. what a great way to conduct an interview, more like an interigation than a conversation by design im sure. your stupidity should be kept to your own shores. do you also suggest banning fertilizer and diesel fuel like tim mcvey used in a mass murder bombing? what about cars? people can use those to run over a bus stop. the solution is simple: since guns will never go away, and high capacity mags can be purchased or fabricated for any semi-automatic firearm: you need an emergency response back up self defense firearm in the school principals office, so just in case they need to make a stand to defend their students they have a fighting chance. end of story. just my honest opinion.

@responsible American How do you suppose to remove all gun? I suppose we could remove all guns the same way they have removed all illegal drugs from the streets. This evil person obtained these guns illegally. He stole it from his mother. His mother practiced poor judgement by having weapons in a home with a evil or mentally unstable person.
I agree with Cocerned Responsible Gun Owner, banning guns will only affect law abiding citizens. The criminals will still get their hands on illegal weapons and the average citizen will be at their mercy.

The NRA is ALL about assuring a large market for manufacturers to sell guns too. That's it. nothing more. A misreading of the 2nd Amendment is their tool and the members are their patsies. They are entirely unconcerned with your "Rights" except as a means to an end... and the yearly body count is considered reasonable collateral.

I just explained how UK gun laws didn't really have an affect on that stat. So no one can claim the newer UK gun laws actually improved anything. The UK took away more guns, yet the stat didn't really change. That means taking away the guns didn't actually do anything. (except apparently increase the violent crime rate to ridiculously high levels.)

I have lost all respect for this foreigner who wants to lecture Americans on something he knows nothing about. He had no desire to discuss or even debate his guest. From the get go his agenda was to destroy the messenger because he could not intellectually debate the message. He was disingenuous in his questions and refused to wait for an answer. He was not seeking the truth in the matter, simply wanted to froth at the mouth and win a debate with hysteria. Asa strong second ammendment supporter, I still believe there is room for to tighten gun laws to eliminate sales of any weapon to people who should not have them. I would even be in favor of banning assault weapons, but lets have a civil discussion and listen to the merits of each side's concerns. Rabid, mindless screaming by the likes of this Limey will not bring us together to address the issue.

However like I said above, manufacturing a fight in order to gain ratings for a "discussion" of violence is one of the best examples of media hypocrisy and they need to be called on it as loudly as possible.

I am not one to post online, but I feel the need to comment on the lack of professionalism displayed by Piers Morgan on this segment. Particularly in the wake of such a devastating tragedy, this lack of respect for others and unwillingness to have an intelligent and open dialogue on a main stream media outlet is disturbing. I do not support guns in the home, but I believe this is an important issue that warrants a thoughtful debate and understanding of the implications of changes in legislation. I echo the disappointment expressed by others and hope that Piers (or CNN) takes note.

Hey ..ksbelieves.....
...don't tell me that we are all going to meet at our own local libraries and start burning some "bad" books! Let's see, the name of the show is actually called "Piers Morgan Tonight". He has spoken to so many Presidents, Generals, World and Religious Leaders of all kinds. The reason some request to come on to the show, such as McCain, Lieberman, knowing and depending on Piers hitting the truth hard. There is this thing called the 1st Amendment, if you don't like it...just turn it off!! Some of us like it when people to hear the truth once in a while and not the same old practiced lines. There is "The Talk" or "Today" show, or "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning's is still on I think. There is something just not right about a show that bothers you when you are not watching it, ever.

So Piers can exercise a right he has no claim! There is another amendment we should look at. So if we don't like it, turn off right? Well I'd you don't like guns, don't buy any! Move to England or France! See ya!

For a nation that talks about healthy living, is it not perverse that after banning lead in petrol to save our children from early dementia, we encourage them to handle lead and breath air from the lead laden discharge from a fire arm. That could be the problem for the NRA and it's cohorts, they are all suffering from lead induced dementia and maybe they should be banned from public pronouncement as their leaden pronouncement and blinkered approach is indicative of a lack of ability to see the wider picture. Any discharge of lead into the atmosphere is detrimental to your children. Public Health authorities should start to implement the appropriate regulations.

Do you understand that what you said is actually correct? Quadafi (however you spell it this week) voluntarily disarmed, and look what we did to him when he showed signs of bucking the petro dollar and no going along with the plan.

Meanwhile, North Korea didn't disarm, and they haven't been invaded and destroyed by the US (at least not yet). There's some truth to what you say (tongue in cheek, of course).

I work with 2nd graders everyday. Frankly, Piers you have no idea what it's like being responsible for 18 to 24 children a day. If an armed man comes in to my classroom I want to be able to defend my children and hopefully myself. I put my students first. If it takes killing the gunman to save these little lives then so be it. Mr. Pratt your right on the money and Piers you have no idea what it's like to be in a classroom and being responsible for them. This whole situation has opened alot of eyes and made individuals really stop and think about ways to prevent this from happening again. Something has to be done but taking our weapons from collectors or just avid gun lovers is not the solution. I'm not a violent person but these crazy people that want to shoot innocent children have to be stopped some way. Piers you we're down right rude tonight and you really should give people the opportunity to finish their thought. I would hope your mother taught you to never interrupt another adult until their finished speaking.

Personally, I think if we should ban Piers from being allowed on the news. If we are going to make good changes in our society it can't be with idiots patronizing, bullying, and being out right rude while trying to have a civil discussion.

Well said, Renee. It's about time for those that are willing, and here's the key word, _able_ to perhaps lay their life on the line to protect the helpless and innocent. Why is it that so many believe that only police officers are capable of using a firearm to 'protect and serve'? Should we not have the right to protect ourselves and each other?

Renee,
Unfortunately, this tragedy has proven again our kids are not safe in schools. I think it is a shame to deny you the right to protect the children we trust you with every day. As long as you are trained in safety and tactical handling of the weapon. No different than training police to do the same.

Banning guns is not going to do one thing to prevent this type of violence. There are already millions of guns and high capacity clips in the US. The Assault rifle ban was in place when the Columbine High School massacre took place. These laws do absolutely nothing to prevent a criminal or monster from taking lives. Does anyone think if all guns were outlawed it would be hard for a criminal to get one? How is that going to prevent anything?

Why are the laws already in place strictly enforced? Why are these people with metal issues not given quality treatment before they turn into monsters? The Government is my eyes is already failing to protect us. How many Cities have seen budget cuts to its police force? People are proposing every legal citizen should be forced to give up their right to protect themselves, family and others? This is insane! Only the criminals will have weapons and we are just to call 911 for help?

Kinda sad how we can fund Sport Stadiums with 100's of millions of tax payers dollars, so sports hero's and team owners and make 10's of millions a year. Yet we can not find the tax money to put a trained officer in every school in the country. How about we demand our taxes are spent on things that matter? Priorities in the US are way out of whack IMO.

On a final note.... Mr Morgan should be fired and sent back to his homeland. Never seen a person from the media be so disrespectful. I do not agree with every post here but I will listen to your point of view and support your right to to express it.
My heart felt sympathy goes out to every victim of violence and their families.

I have never seen anyone as stupid, clueless or pompous as Larry Pratt. There is something SERIOUSLY wrong with that man. I could not believe the vile insane crap coming from the man's mouth. It disgusts me that humans like him even exist.

I will NEVER watch this show again. Piers was absolutely outrageous tonight. I am not a gun owner nor am I "pro" guns but I do believe that when you invite a guest on your show you should be respectful and decent. You acted like an absolute jerk and mentally unstable.. I expect CNN to fire you.

Amen. How ironic that Mr. Morgan continued to reference those in "civilized societies," and then proceeded to demonstrate total lack of civility with his behavior toward invited guests. To call a guest stupid and an idiot is your latest and most severe example of incivility and inability to control yourself. Over and above all that, you demand your guest not to interrupt you when you interrupt without fail, on a nightly basis. CNN? Is this the best you can do?

One final note, I absolutely agree with the need for changes in gun laws expressed by numerous anchors, legislators, citizens, and other experts but also absolutely reject your style in laying out your arguments. And for CNN: It is ironic that underneath the box in which I am entering this post is the following written by CNN: "CNN welcomes a lively and courteous discussion as long as you follow the Rules of Conduct....." Do these rules of conduct NOT apply to the persons you pay big bucks to fill your slots each night? Hmmm.

Americans are very entertaining usually. Certain few americans though like this guy (Pratt) makes a comedy out of a tragedy. This is disgusting and shamefull beyond belief. Moreover, I am sure he goes to church every Sunday and thinks himself as an oustanding christian. Its either hypocrisy by making money out of people's fear or plain right mental illness (serioulsy). He would be the first to judge Jesus as bad if he sees him. This guy will go straight to hell without any stop in between. I am canadian and the problem is a no brainer (not even close) regardless of your 2nd amendment. I am saying that courteously, it is well known that men that have small "you know what" need to conpensate either with cars or guns. I bet this guy... well.... I will stop here. I like America, the land of all promises. Americans are better and prouder than that ...way better !

I watched your interview with Larry Pratt tonight and agree for the most part with you. I will also say that I"m disappointed you did not bring up (more) the gun laws in the UK. My sister lives in the UK and I am somewhat familiar with them. Yes, there are more gun restrictions there, but more importantly, they require gun licensing in the UK. If a person wants to own a gun they must join a gun club, show proficiency of ownership and be properly trained. Those at the club get to know this person and their living situation to a degree sufficient to determine there are not other factors which might be a red flag. In short, it's far more thorough and sensible. I think with that level of requirement, chances are someone like Nancy Lanza might not have qualified, but I'm guessing.

I do think that Larry Pratt has a point about defending ourselves, even in school possibly, BUT, it does not address the huge problem that the gun also brings to such a situation. Along with being "able to defend yourself" you also get crimes of passion, accidents and a mindset that the gun will solve some of your problems. Well, along with the good, you get allot of bad.

In summary, I wish you would say more about what determines if a gun owner is truly qualified to own their weapon. There is little or no qualification. I can't help but think that if there were, Nancy Lanza may have been prevented from owning a weapon, or maybe, her situation could have been "on the radar" more because, since she had a son with a mental problem, there might be some further attention to her situation. Clearly she did not secure her weapons and clearly she was not aware her son would do what he did.

I am shocked, I too am so confused about the issues of how to protect. I am a Grandmother who cares and have consided CNN the station I respected however, I cannot believe you will allow a host to be so unrespectful to a
guest invited to speak. To let him call his guest an idiot is to disrespectful for me. I will not be watching your programs
anymore. There are plenty more that can give me information and comentary that is respectful to both sides of an issue.

Honestly, it really shouldn't matter on which side of this issue you are, Piers Morgan behaved badly. His guest was courteous and well spoken but rather than civily disagree, Morgan (more than once) resorted to outright name calling and insults (not to mention the rude interruptions). This isn't the first time either; the subject of firearms invariably brings on a tantrum. CNN should consider disciplining the behavior – most unseemly.

I agree with Will 100 percent. I think CNN should rerun this show every day so they can see just how low their ratings could go. Why would anyone want to be a guest on that show after that display of disrespect.

Evil is in the hearts of some Americans but also probably in the hearts of similar percentages of British, Australians and Canadians – but they don't have the gun availability to go around undertaking mass murders of innocent people at shopping centers, movie theaters and grade schools.

Don't usually watch cnn and I once again my reasons were reinforced. Mr. Morgan was rude and childish. Must have thought he was on American Idol. Bad example. Be careful when channel surfing or you may accidentally come upon this dribble

You have got to be kidding to arm teachers. Have you not learnt anything with this disaster......the guns killed these children and teachers. Stop selling the guns for the children in your country and if not these terrible acts will continue. You Americans talk about having guns for protection......who are coming after you all. Why does a society need protection, are you expecting a war. I just don't understand how you think, does the lives of children not mean anything to you. I'm so glad to live in Canada.

I live in Toronto...my doors are never locked. Yes, we've had 'some' murder by gun. And as long as guns are in people's homes, there will ALWAYS be the potential for violence. HOWEVER, we also have more guns per capita than the USA. Our death rate by gun last year was 816 nationally – in a country of almost 36 million. " Homicides accounted for 38 per cent of deaths involving guns in the United States and 18 per cent in Canada". Is this an issue of mindset? Why is the American population so gun happy? Could it be the 'fear mongering' of the Republican Party and NRA?

Your comment is all over the place. First, a bad guy stole those guns. A law-abiding teacher with a gun may have stopped him. Or at least would have had a chance to stop him. Guns don't shoot kids by themselves. It sounds like you're worried if you give a teacher a gun they'll start shooting up the place.

Second, you then do a 180 and ask who is coming after you that you need guns. ...Bad guys who shoot up schools and kill little kids are coming after me! Think!

Piers Morgan is perverting the gun control debate with his abusive interview tactics. I suggest that people boycott his show and instead watch more intelligent debate that will actually advance our policies in congress instead of just trying to get higher ratings. I hope that Americans stand up to British media antics by turning the channel and restore dignity and respect to the American journalism profession.

Piers I don't always agree with your views but tonight I did. To the people who believe that more guns are the answer, ask yourself why the United States where you live works so hard to stop other countries from obtaining nuclear weapons. Your logic does not make any sense.

Can't agree more Canadian Citizen. Piers asked the same question on Iran and Nukes...why is it that the US and UK side so heavily with Isreal, as to ignore the basic premise that maybe Iran would like to build their economy and become like any other country with nuclear power? I highly doubt that Iran would build a bomb, attack Isreal or the US understanding that the rest of the planet would literally obliterate them if they performed such a feat. Wake up USA. It's not all about you!

Pierce Morgan you are so ignorant regarding you're statements on tonight's episode. If there had been policemen even one at the door, maybe bullet proof glass, or the teaching staff with a CHL license/ gun to protect these students and teachers, we would probably not even be having this discussion and or there would be less children and teachers killed. Guns do NOT kill children and teachers etc.. Evil people, sick people kill. This mom should have had these weapons locked up in a safe....common sense... I or not had them if she couldn't keep them locked up. She sure should not have been going to the shooting range with her son if there were issues with her son which clearly there was. You state you're opinion but don't allow the others to give their opinion without talking over them and calling them idiots. As a parent if my child were at Shady Hook Elem and that evil man came in my child's school I would have been so thankful if one or more staff had a weapon and used it on this guy and it saved my child , then that teacher/staff would absolutely be my hero for saving my children along with others. All it would have taken is one to take him down. It would have been incredible if instead of the principal using her body to go after this guy use her weapon to protect herself and possibly all the others. I believe these evil people that would do such a horrible crime as he did would think twice long and hard before he entered a school if a law was passed for the staff to be qualified and have the tools to protect the staff and children. I'm so saddened that this happened. If the teachers had what they needed we would today be talking about maybe one death, the killer and the heroes would still be alive. I would tell you there are many with CHL Licenses that are teachers today and would feel so much safer to protect their children and themselves if the law would have been there for them to be able to carry their weapon in their purse, in a locked desk somewhere that they could get to it to when needed. There are many things that need to change and one is providing the staff with what they need to protect themselves and their children. I would think that the principal that went after the gunman would have felt safer if she had a gun rather than going after him with her body. You need to open you're ears and close you're mouth and listen. Quit calling people idiots and quit talking over them.

Two points, First the host Piers was incredibly rude, I personally would have told him to stuff it and got up and walked out.
Point 2, If I were a teacher, I would gladly take shooting classes and carry a concealed gun..I would rather do that then watch some lunatic come in my classroom and start shooting the children in my care. For those that say they can't or wouldn't stop an attacker, SHAME on you!

I'd be proud to have you as my kid's teacher, knowing they would be protected by a law-abiding person living in reality and not by some "gun-free zone" sign stuck to a door that does nothing except act as an invitation to criminals.

there are locks on the guns, no child can pick it up and shot them self if its locked. it would have only take a moment for the teacher to unlock her gun and use it to stop him from killing. the teacher that said there are no kid in here, could have save the other kids from getting shot if she had been standing there with a gun, ready to kill him. No one wants to kill, but lets faces it she would have been a hero, like the man that landed the plane in New york.

Piers Morgan,Hooray for you. You are my absolute hero for having the courage to say what you have been, and staring that NRA nonsense right in the face and staring it down. It's the first time I can ever remember seeing ANY single media person have any courage to say this out loud and not just once but to shout them down and not ever back down, even when in your own best interest.
Hooray for you Piers.

Hey CNN and those to the left, Piers really hurt you guys tonight. He came across as arrogant, rude, childish and about as unamerican as you can get. He turned gun control into a snarky bit of British sarcasm and misplaced understanding of the USA. Terrible behavior, terrible interview, and terribly outclassed. CNN should be embarrassed by this.

There are 88 guns for every 100 people in the United States. Far, far more than any other country in the world. The next highest is Serbia with 52 guns per 100 people. The U.S. ranks 3rd in gun violence after Colombia and Venezuela. 3500 children are killed each year with guns in the United States, 17,500 children a year are wounded by guns in the United States. I have no problem with responsible gun owners, but too many people are not responsible, are not careful, and are not doing a good job self-selecting whether they would be a good gun owner or not. The carnage due to that is getting outrageous. Connecticut felt like the last straw for me. I'd like to hear some gun control options that make guns both safer (better storage, trigger guards, etc.) and harder to get.

I guess you haven't been watching the news...the NRA somehow squeezed another rule in stopping emergency room doctors from reporting gun incidents. So if you want to talk manipulation – check the NRA first and then send them back to church with their gun toting, law-abiding red necks...you're sooo full of it!

Good job Piers. I am tired of idiots like Pratt being allowed to preach their messages with no one challenging them. Their positions are indefensible, they know it and have to lie and twist facts to keep people believing them. People like him make their living by selling fear and irrational claims. Most reasonable people have no wish to completely ban any kind of gun. It just is not necessary for anyone outside of the military to own guns that have as their main purpose the quick and efficient killing of humans.

@mac, I hope you're not serious. Piers Morgan seriously hurts the anti-gun side. His childish behavior was unprofessional and his facts were not only unclear they were incorrectly stated. Look up UK gun crime, it's not as low as he says it is. Wow, I'm not a gun person but that was an awful interview. CNN should apologize to their viewers.

Piers, I commend you for being one of the few TV commentators taking up the gun issue before the Sandy Hook School murders took place. I am for very strict gun control and assault weapon ban. I watched your episode of " The Three Amigos" and after Sen Graham, NC spoke about possession of 8 guns in his family, I realized that one of the major problems we have with our government ,not just on the gun issue but with almost every issue, is that our Senate and House is gender lopsided ... not equal number of women to men. Now of course, there are women who are into guns, just look at the Sandy Hook School shooter's mother. However over all, I think it would help this country enormously in moving forward with sensible legislation for today's world. Please have women on your show
to comment on gun control and other issues as much as you can, especially those who need exposure to run for office. Don't be afraid to ask them the hard questions, we don't need any "Stepford Wives", in Wash. we have enough "Stepford Husbands" there who are married to the lobbyists. Keep up the good work, Piers. Thank you.

This guy stole his guns and killed defenseless little kids who were made defenseless by forcing them to be in a "gun-free zone" where only criminals will have guns. Please explain and provide evidence for how your proposed gun laws would have stopped this guy from killing defenseless little kids.

By the way, Columbine happened in the middle of the previous "assault weapons ban." Please explain why that ban did not stop Columbine.

Banning assault rifles will not stop all massacres. Will certainly lessen the number of them however. Unless of course it is just a massive coincidence that by having the highest number of high powered guns per person the US has by far the highest rate of gun deaths of western democratic nations. Or that after Australia after another in a spate of US style massacres banned Semi-automatic rifles and pump action/self-loading shotguns from civilians and a genuine reason was required for all other firearms. The result – massive reduction in gun deaths and no massacres. Go figure.

Every complex problem has a simple answer that also happens to be wrong, ineffective, or worse . Addressing complex and tragic events by Inviting single-issue advocates or those with extreme views onto your show for verbal target practice is not the way to help the country solve complex problems and is in fact a form of mental violence.

I respectfully suggest you take a look at this posting for a more effective way to make a difference:

Why is it hogwash? The ONLY people who had a chance of saving those kids were the teachers. But the teachers were made defenseless thanks to feel-good "no guns allowed" laws that criminals don't care about.

Dear Pierce Morgan,
I am writing this because I want to express my sincere thanks for your steadfast and unrelenting focus on guns and gun violence in America. It means a lot on a very deep and personal level. Not because I have been a victim of gun violence, or knows someone who has, but because it presents some profound questions for me whether I want to raise my children in the US. I am currently in the U.S. Army and love this country. It has so many smart and gifted people and Americans are by far the most loving and friendly people on the planet, but this latest episode of horrific and unnecessary carnage is difficult to accept as a human being. It is also difficult to accept, after such slaughter of children, that our leaders and fellow Americans continue to advance this horrible and depraved argument that more weapons is the answer.
I am so thankful for your efforts to expose the straight up lies and insanity of the arguments promoted by such people as the organization pretending to represent gun owners in America. It is horrendous to me that Americans don’t rise up against this insanity and it is very difficult for me to understand. The fact that one of the judges on the supreme court can, as a grown man, wonder aloud whether or not missiles designed to shoot down airplanes are to be available to citizens and that this is “something that need to be decided in the future” underscores the enormity and gravity of this problem. I have been to some of the worst areas of Afghanistan where my job was to study the enemy. To see serious men wonder out loud whether the same weapons used by the Taliban in Afghanistan, that is assault rifles and missiles, should be available to civilians in the US is to me such an insane and incredulous statement that I lack words.
So please, for the sake of many of us here in America. Don’t let them get away with it. I cannot overstate how thankful I am for your work.

First off you need to join the Peace Corp. If you are in the service you should already know. There ARE RESPONSIBLE gun owners and there are NEGLIGENT gun owners, and then there is the black market..... DRINKING AND DRIVING KILLS MORE PEOPLE THAN THIS>> so why don't we out law ALCOHOL!!!!!! Get real, get a life, and I agree with not wanting to raise your kids in the U.S. , only simply that there is a good majority of parents that expect toys, teachers, and T.V.'s to teach their kids, When its the PARENTS RESPONSIBILITY to raise THEIR KIDS RIGHT, BUT when the law says you can't beat your kids A$$ for acting like a thuggish fool, then kids, young adults, and even adults, will do this type of thing if raised improperly. Why don't we chop off rapists penises or hands for raping kids, or others. You really need to jump in the real world, and get out of the fantasy of a Utopian world dude.

Say the ban goes into effect.....Say a kid or a man walks in strapped with a bomb, YOU know, a suicidal bomber..... what does the unarmed guard do, he can tackle the guy and get blown up with who knows how many others, or he could shoot him in the head ....rendering him incapable of squeezing the button, yes kids saw one death, but it wasn't theirs..... Hey I got an Idea..... LET"S BAN HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS........ they make great bombs...... YOU FREAKIN IDIOTS>>>>> Search your heart for a better conclusion, ya'll are all in grief and making the mistake the shrink tells you not too.......America HAS A DRUG PROBLEM.....WE HAVE LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT CATCHES SOME>>>>BUT NOT ALL>>>>>> GET REAL PEOPLE>>>>>

Piers. Love what you are doing on the gun control issue. Please keep it up! I came here from Australia 30 some years ago. Never owned a gun, never wanted a gun and never will own a gun. It is time to repeal the Second Amendment. It has way outlived its use-by date. It was establlished I am told to resist tyranny and ensure a free society. As it is interpreted now it has established a tyranny of its own. A repeal of the Second Amendment would be a long term struggle. But a serious attempt to organize around repeal would get the attention. In the meantime I suggest two shorter term possibilities that you could ask your guests to comment on. Increase the tax on ammunition as we have raised the tax on cigarettes to the point that the cost becomes prohibitive for many. Ammunition is far more dangerous to the public than cigarettes and second hand smoke – and i would like to live in a smoke-free environment and that includes gun smoke.
Another suggestion: Attack the problem of guns at an even more local level with ordinances to create gun free zones/ villages/towns. Parents would love to know than when their children go to a neighbors house there will not be the possibility of an gun accident. Think of it: You are now living in a gun free zone. I think that to live without fear of guns and gun violence is a far greater right than an unfettered right to bear arms. The Second Amendment is after all only an amendment.
Keep up the good work. Love the way to do not tolerate the garbage those gun advocates come up with. That fellow tonight (Tuesday, Dec 18) was truly – as you said – a dangerous and remakably stupid man. Could not have said it better myself.

If anti-gun folks have to resort to child like name calling during a discussion, they then have lost their argument. Unprofessional and disrespectful. Mr. Morgan knew he lost his argument and resorted to name calling. Disgusting!

Also, it is rude and disrespectful when you keep interrupting someone after you ask them a question.

Mr. Morgan you lost your argument and resorted to being a disrespectful child.

Until this past week your show has been my favorite talk show.
Allow me to establish that I adamantly agree that assault weapons need to be banned. No further sales to the general public. A Federal mandate requiring all current owners to reregister or turn in those weapons, pending prosections for not doing so. Close follow-up with current owners to establish their reregistration. Any current owners with a misdemeanor or felony be required to turn in those weapons. Any and all clips need to be turned in, with prosecution for noncompliance.
I do agree that the 2nd amendment needs revision but I do absolutely agree with the right of citizens with no police records to be able to own handguns, hunting rifles and shotguns.
What I do not agree with Piers is your lack of professionalism in listening to and even debating your your guests, BUT NOT TO THE EXTENT OF YOUR RECENT DISPLAYS. Your constant interrupting your guests while resulting to your abrasive and derogatory characterizations of your guests leaves everything to be desired, including your replacement with CNN. Possibly (?) someone in Britan would welcome your abrupt, abrasive, reprehensible, and unprofessional behavior. You have a right to your opinion, as do your guests without being called/labeled derogatory names (ie: lunatics, etc,etc, etc). I have not heard not one of your guests attack you the way you have and are attacking them. Certainly there needs to be measures of reform but I would sincerely hope that you would not be even considered for any committee whatsoever. Your lack of professionalism would result in mayham within the committee, and the industry. I no longer admire you and or portray of positions.

Typical red-necked, bible toting statement! It's no wonder the rest of the planet show a complete distaste to Americans. It's too bad though, because like in every country, there are some good people. However, anything connected with a Republican mindset, is just plain nasty. Socialist? Speak to your neighbours north of you. Ask them why their economy is starting to thrive, why EVERYONE, is cared for on a national level, medically and helped out financially when needed. Get off your high horse.

I saw the promotional TV slot for this show earlier in the day today, at first I dreaded the entire concept – But I was curious. Beforehand I watched the O'Rilley Factor, in the first 8 min of the show Bill produced his talking points with calm precision and FACTS, facts from the Department of Justice. Which oddly stated that mass murders have gone down, and were at their peak in the 1920's... Ok, filed that away and did some chores and got ready for work.

Poof – 9 O clock and this show was on. Normally I don't watch CNN. So at about 8 to 15 min into this show I saw a stark contrast... ALL DRAMA, NO FACTS!!!! Mr Morgan whom Im guessing is not a US citizen presented NO facts, just conjecture and took every single opportunity to debase the 2nd Amendment and to stoke the anti gun furvor, lacking detached professionalism. I have three simple questions for CNN, and Mr Morgan

#1 What exactly is an assault rifle?
#2 What is gun control exactly? Why isnt the media talking about CRIMINAL CONTROL? Whats wrong with the current laws on the books?
#3 have YOU looked at the process of actually legallly purchasing a firearm within the United States? Here's a friendly tip to assist you, ATF Form 4473, Question #11.

Lastly,

I deeply resent the way your network, and you apparently see myself and those like me who lawfully posesses firearms for peaceful purposes, and who are now judged as criminals because of the APPEARANCE of the firearms we possess. Criminals by definition are people who do not follow laws and who break them, So I'm to be punished for something Ive never done, will NEVER do, yet you wish to impose laws that will not be followed by criminals? This in its own nature makes NO sense!

I admit that that was the first, and last time i will be watching you show, I am personally disgusted with how you personally treat law abiding citizens, if you do claim to be a journalist, something I'm not holding much creedence to that from what I saw, take a look at Walter Cronkite or Dan Rather they had something called PROFESSIONALISM and approached stories without bias, unlike you sir and your associates at CNN.

Misspelling really? Sorry i work three jobs for a living; Will since you and other of your mindset tend to call myself and other law abiding citizens who own "Scary Black Guns" bigots, racists, or rednecks because we cherish our rights heres a little something for you called facts! Its the Department of Justice crime stats I'll sum it up for you, in the reported years violent crime has actually fallen...
Here's the link: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv09.pdf Even the FBI and DOJ say that firearm related crimes have fallen. Id write it for you but I gave up my big crayon a long time ago

For the rest of you genetic defectives who cannot grasp the concept of CRIMINAL CONTROL here is a link so you can look at the published crime data stats and unlike the rest of the liberal peers hopefully come to a logical conclusion.

Teachers with guns – seriously?
Lets see, person bursts into classroom, firing semi automatic gun. Pandemonium ensues. Teacher makes their way to their desk where, presumably, they will keep a loaded weapon (again, seriously?) What are the odds of the teacher getting to the gun before being shot, then, amidst the panic of running, screaming kids, with adrenaline coursing through their system, take down the gunman? I would say not good. Unless you intend the teachers to be toting assault rifles on their hips as they move around the classroom helping kids?
Nobody announces massacres, or home invasions for that matter. The surprise element will trump having a weapon in the cupboard every time.

And what happens when an angry disengaged student gets hold of the gun?
And don't say the gun would be kept unloaded and locked away..... remember for it to be of any use in a surprise classroom massacre it needs to be readily accessible.

Except that when a shooter shoots up a school people in the rest of the building have a good bit of warning, so they would probably have time to even take a gun out of a locked safe if need be. And then they could huddle the kids to a corner while the teacher gets ready to shoot whatever comes through their locked door.

Armed teachers could have protected these kids. But the law-abiding teachers were disarmed and unable to even try due to feel-good laws that create safe working environments for criminals.

They also have guns with chips in them to put a pass code so if a deranged student did get it, it would not fire. I absolutely don't think they need to be unloaded that would defeat the purpose . Also bullet proof glass at the front where people come in. There are so many things that we could do more to protect our teachers and children

Yep, like move them to Australia, where the likelihood of someone getting there hands on these assault weapons and shooting kids in schools is much, much less, thanks to our laws – which incidentally don't hinder our freedom in the slightest.
You can make a school a fortress, with bullet proof glass, armed teachers, body scanners to make sure students don't bring weapons into the grounds, armed guards and more, but what sort of environment is that for children? What does it teach them – that the outside world is a dangerous place, full of nutters and guns. If you want that for your children, go for it. Personally I'd rather try and change the outside world – not saying there's an easy or quick answer, but if the people and government are committed enough to tackle it, it can be done. And if they're not committed after a tragedy like this, with six year olds being shot –well then, you'd better start singing 'Home of the brave (if you're armed), and the land of the free (except for the fortresses we have to live, work and learn in)
I'm just glad I don't live there.

Probably true. But it is a complete insult to the Founding Fathers to even suggest that men of their vision and integrity would have come up with something like the 2nd Amendment as it is interpreted by the gun lobby today. For them it was a principle to allow the States to protect themselves from the power given to the Federal Government. Today it is viewed as rule that allows people to play with dangerous toys, even if it results in the death of 20 kids.

The Second Amendment is supposed to allow the same kinds of arms the government and military has. It's kind of hard to stop a tyrannical government when that tyrannical government forces you to use arms inferior to theirs. ...A government taking law-abiding citizens' arms away is evidence the government is tyrannical, actually.

He just said this has never happened where there were more guns. The shooter at Ford Hood was surrounding by highly trained armed military personal, and he was able to kill 13 of them. And he thinks the kindergarten teacher could stop a killer with a bullet proof vest on. Why isn't anyone asking these men how much they profit from these arms sales?

Evil is an abstract concept, an idea. It is not in anyone's heart. Instead, it is in minds. However, "evil," being an idea, does not exist in the world by itself. Humans create it. It explains nothing. Evil did not exist before people thought of it. the reason they conceived of evil is because people don't like to admit that people, at least some of them, often do totally rotten things to other people.

People who want to change gun laws need to amend the 2nd Amendment, however unlikely that is..

Piers needs to be removed to from CNN. His lack of general respect for people makes me sick...Please CNN distance yourself from Mr. Morgan his questionable background and overall ignorance and lack of respect for his guest are gross and sadly distasteful. Is this the man that has been put into place after the departure of Larry King. Please CNN. Please

Watched this show for the first time last night. Watched again tonight. Won't be watching tomorrow. In his "interview" with Larry Pratt, Morgan reduces himself to name calling ... Wow – that should help us get to the bottom of the problems with this country!! What a poor excuse for an interviewer. Try some objectivity Piers. This country has serious problems and acting like a 5 year old on the playground isn't going to help with the debate. Drop the righteous indignation, shut your mouth, open your ears and try listening before you call someone else "a stupid man".

The misguided thinking by people like Mr. Pratt is beyond my comprehension. Thank you Mr. Piers Morgan for showing your anger about this issue. It's about time we raised our voices. An old friend of mine from years ago was in touch last year. He told me the tragic story of his nephew – 15 years old. Having an argument with his brother, he went into the house and got his father's gun (where was it? Don't know. But it was obviously not locked up). To make a statement, this young nephew went out on the porch, pointed the gun to his own head, and clicked the trigger. The gun was loaded. The boy immediately died on the porch. The family was devastated. Had they not had a gun in that house, their beloved son/nephew would still be alive. It happened years ago. The saddest part to me, is that this family STILL believes that everyone should have a gun in their homes. Unfathomable. I cannot understand it. I say ban all assault weapons. Make background checks 100% mandatory (and time consuming) and applicable in all states and even during "gun shows". It's not a complete answer, but it's common sense.

Your "common sense" gun laws would have done nothing to stop this guy. In fact, "common sense" gun laws like "gun-free zones" are what made all the people at the school sitting ducks with no chance at all of protecting themselves or those kids.

Watching the show tonight, I was appalled at Piers lack of ability to control his emotions and temper. Professional hosts should be able to keep their composure regardless of how passionate they feel about the issue being discussed. The name calling from Piers was very elementary, and childish.

The problem lies with the people who pull the trigger, not the gun.. It will not matter how many laws are passed, how much control is placed on guns.... people who are hell bent on committing a crime will do so, whether it be with a gun, knife, bomb, etc, I am amazed at the people who can not comprehend this. Meth, cocaine, heroine, are all illegal in this country, but yet thousands of Americans are addicted to these drugs. Do you get the point?

The majority of American's who own guns, are responsible. These stories like this, are horrible, but restricting the responsible American's, because of the few lunatics is not going to solve the problem.

Once again, the problem lies with the people who plan, prepare, and carry out these crimes, and until people wake up and realize that.... there is no amount of gun control in the world that will stop these tragic events from taking place.

I agree with you about how unprofessional and very rude Piers was to his guest and previous ones on this subject.. He is incapable of letting anyone express opposite views. I have lost all respect for him . He has a mindset and he won't listen. Communication is 50% listening. The Holocaust wouldn't have killed 50 million people if the people had access to guns to defend themselves. This was poor judgement by his mother to let this mentally ill man use guns. But the issue beyond that is lack of any place to put someone with mental illness. Insurance won't pay, we don't have facilities for thousands of these ill young people. If they were properly cared for they wouldn't have access to guns.

I applaud Piers Morgan for actually showing emotion and getting to the necessary argument. NOBODY needs a semi-automatic assault weapons nobody. Americans are an uneducated population and this is just an example.

Piers, the USA you love is not the one that will let your live in peace. Brits like Alistair Clarke and John Lennon all had their various experiences with this country and it did not end well. We could you use in Canada by the way; at least the audiences here would appreciate you.

Piers Morgan WOW you lost your argument because your nasty and can't talk to people. It's not cause you care you just want ratings. Your not Larry King. Stop being so insulting to people who you disagree with. Just nasty. your point of view is mine your delivery sucks.

20 kids were killed probably within a minute of two. The teacher would have had to have a submachine gun to have a chance- but with the element of surprise no one has a chance.

We need an immediate Executive Order from the President putting a hold on any weapon that can shoot bullets on an automatic basis, until congress can act on a bill. The whole country is outraged and wants something done- this would be a great step in the right direction.

My latest idea is to have dogs on duty at school as they are very perceptive- It is worth a try.

I have always been a fan of Piers Morgan. But I am appalled at his behavior over the gun debate. He has bullied and talked over everyone that he has invited on to talk about their position on the gun debate if they have disagreed with him. He has called people stupid and idiots. Really, to make your case you've resorted to that?

We each have our right to our opinion. Surely we can respect one another enough to not resort to name calling and bullying!

I, too, am disgusted at Mr Morgan's uncouth disrespect of people who do not share his point of view. While I do not agree with Mr Pratt's point of view, I respect his right to hold it. Using Mr Morgan's own words, he is the "stupid man" in the room who lacks the basic common sense that a real journalist would have of maintaining an unbiased position in a debate.

This is he last time I will ever watch a show that is so clearly focused on driving ratings by sensationalistic bickering that reduces CNN to a purveyor of nothing more than Jerry Springer quality programming. I thought CNN was better than that, but clearly not.

But then I guess that's hat you should expect from a "journalist" out of the cesspool of British tabloid journalism.

I couldn't agree with you more. I have never seen a host be more dispectful than Piers Morgan was tonight. I thought I would be watching an intelligent debate on gun control. Instead I witnessed a host bullying, name calling, and interrupting his guest. No matter what the opinions of others might be, a good "journalist" can keep his temper in check.

This was truly a disgrace to watch. Not because of either person's opinion, but because this just goes to show how intolerant each side is to hear out the rational of the other. If we're going to be serious this time about saying enough is enough and get practical on a situation in our country that could absolutely improve, then we need to have civil discord even when we so fiercely disagree. We owe it to these 26 lives to make an improvement and to see real results this time.

First off I just thought Piers Morgan made himself look like a bafoon, cutting off Larry Pratt every other second to call him stupid and his ideas rubbish. This isn't the House of Lords, and if someone's ideas really are rubbish then you let it speak for itself. People don't need to be told when something is ridiculous, and you don't improve your argument by letting your emotions get the best of you. Sadly the topic over how to prevent mass killings is only cast into the national spotlight when something horrible happens, and it's very very difficult to keep emotions out of it. But for the sake of progress, we need to get it right this time around and recognize truths about the world we live in as it stands today.

This was a real opportunity to have a meaningful discussion, but this "interview" if you can even call it that just goes to show why we don't get anywhere to prevent tragedies like this happening again. Tonight was a microcosm of America. We seem to have an inability to hear each other out.

One thing is for certain, and I'll stand by this belief forever. The discussion has to tackle the problem from all fronts and not just be about gun control, because it's just not that simple. Unless we can face the harsh reality that there is and always will be evil in the world, that there is no switch that can make all weapons on Earth vanish forever, and that the sheer number of guns in North America makes this debate entirely different than other developed regions of the world, then we won't get to the final objective that we're all claiming to desire above all else: RESULTS meausured by fewer gun related deaths.

Oh, and one more truth... Killers don't abide by laws, and so laws alone will not change much. The killer in this incident was going to kill someone, with or without access to a gun. Would less people have died if it was just a knife? Absolutely. But there are huge implications to stripping a nation of the fundamental right to protect themselves as a result of one person's actions. Honest truth, I don't think having a few responsible, trained teachers with a pistol under lock and key in their desk is such a bad idea. We're probably a good 100 years from even having a shot of cleaning up the streets to the point where that suggestion would be ludacris.

Anyway, I just felt deeply saddened and hopeless after watching Piers Morgan completely throw away an opportunity to sit down with a prominent force in the national debate which has been going on for much longer than he's been in this country. I understand that you care about these children and have a heavy heart to want to try and do something for others like them. That's a good thing, but shame on you for making this more about yourself rather than the discussion that wasn't had. Once again the spotlight on this issue will fade because people can't overcome their emotions. We Americans need to TRY HARDER to listen more and talk less, or we'll ignorantly suffer our fates.

It s some people feel that the answer to ones safety when surrounded by proliferation of weapons designed solely for the purpose of killing large numbers of people quickly, is for one to equally arm oneself. Is that not what we are accusing Iran of doing? The Gospel according to the Second Amendment evidently only applies to white americans. If those boys playing their music too loud had actually had a concealed weapon on them, to use if they were in school or a theater, their killer would be free.

Piers Morgan is a very poor speaker. Who says "you are an idiot aren't you?" Get someone on that show who knows how to debate an issue without acting like a child. Piers Morgan has no business speaking about issues of this magnitude. I will never watch your channel while he is speaking!

Evil may sit in broken people, but guns translate that evil into death is a unique way. Without guns, it would take a lot more to kill a human than pulling a trigger from afar. Guns are unique. They need a unique fix.

Mr. Pratt is a sad excuse for humanity. He doesn't care about any of those innocent children or brave teachers that have been killed by guns. He is talking about evil, yet I saw evil in his smiling smug face. No media outlet should ever put this idiot on the air again. Disgraceful!

Lol, come on Lucy. You think he doesn't care 20 kids are dead? He's a conservative with a different opinion than your own, not a child hater, I must have missed the part of the interview where Pratt applauded the killers actions. That statement is as ridiculous as Piers Morgan

I just feel Piers needs the let other party talk.. have their say as he does. They will never agree on gun control so will have to agree to disagree. WITHOUT BATTLE!! I would agree that Piers is not ALWAYS right AND i HOPE HE WOULD AGREE.

Do you not see that the 'Other' Party, or Parties – don't shut up long enough to answer a true intellectual question? It's impossible to fight people who can't stop long enough to listen and communicate. Watch the video again

It's no wonder CNN struggles, Piers Morgan has got to be one of the most pathetic hosts I have ever seen. Lol! The guy has no idea how to mount a sound argument in his own favor, and listens to nothing but his own double chin. The facts were clearly explained to him in tonight's interview (if you can call it an interview), Do the fact check yourself, the places in america that have the tightest gun laws... Chicago.... Have the most gun problems. Chicago had a hand gun ban, they have the worst murder rate in the nation. Bet you didn't hear about the 4 year old little girl that recently

Was caught in a cross fire and died. Where was piers on that one or any of they other 500+ murders that happened with illegally obtained guns in Chicago this year? What idiot doesn't understand that if a few teachers were licensed to conceal carry in schools that. That mad man would have never got to the children.

You said it... Not me. So I will agree with you, your an idiot. The places he shot up at fort hood were full of unarmed individuals. So basically the same situation. No one had a fire arm ON them to defend themselves. I ll put my bets on 1 or 2 legally armed kindergarten teachers, over a bunch of helpless kids that are just sitting there just waiting to be massacred every day of the week. Those sound like pretty good odds to me. Certainly better than what we have now.

you dumb brit. when ever someone speaks and is not what you want to hear you act like a little b#&*h and start talking over them. AR-15 is a self defense weapon like any other gun and when you take guns out of the hands of the hard working people it only leaves guns in the criminals hands. That is the truth and you should open your eyes. You are a complete idiot and should not use CNN to pass on your one sided view.

Wow I have always enjoyed watching Peirs Morgan. Tonight I have a new level for respect for him he told Pratt " your an unbelively stupid man" and "idots like you"..... Piers is not even an American but has more courage to tell it like it is way to go Piers!! If only you could run for President in America this country would be much better off!!

People must have forgotten the bank robbery shootout in California. 1997. If these type of firearms are banned that will only mean that the law abiding citizens will not have them. The criminal element will still have illegal automatic weapons and I will have no way to defend against them because I am following the rules.

You were amazing tonight. Your rage and frustration was shared by so many of us for whom you spoke. Your guest is impenetrable, as I believe the Right is in general. Thank you for persisting on this issue. Tonight you became my hero (and in looking you up I realized we share a birthday!)

Great show Piers! Hold strong to your beliefs! God would never want these types of weapons(designed only to take human lives) to be in mans hands. Most of these wackos say they love God above all else but can't wait to to get their hands on these guns so they can go all vigilante and kill. I am for the right to bear arms but these kind of weapons are made only to do the work of the devil. What a bunch of hypocrites!

I've never heard more disrepectful treatment of an opposing opinion in my life. The only 'idiot' here is Piers. At least Mr. Pratt was civil. We're not going to find solutions by resorting to name calling Piers. Grow up or get on the next boat back.

I commend Mr. Morgan in having to deal with Angry Old White Guy Pratt this evening. The likes ;of Mr. Pratt are the problem with this country and although this issue should not be politicized, it will add to the demise of the Republican Party as we know it. Democrat's will need to come clean and vote their conscience instead of their paycheck...

Piers Morgan tonight bordered on out of control name calling with no respect for his guest. This was a character assassination of major proportion irregardless of the topic. I would suggest CNN rethink it's agenda and wonder if it is becoming a social engineering network representing only half of America.. Is this what I wore the American uniform for as I served this country. I think not!! Do something constructor that does not need congress. All major networks need to volunteer to remove guns from its entertainment and quit being focused on ratings. Set the example and pull the shows. They have no place on our airways. No law is needed just do it, or as we said in the military, "Follow Me"! I shall lead by example!

I have lost complete respect for this man Piers who replaced Larry King. Maybe he needs to learn how to be a host. A host is someone who gives to his/her guest the opportunity to speak when asked a questions and not interrupt him/her and insult them and call them names. Somebody at CNN should hire his British ass...Maybe in Britain this kind of hosting is acceptable but her in this country everyone has a right of free speech something very hard for Brits to understand...Even if you disagree ... God! this guys is an idiot

Who the hell is Larry Pratt ? People like him are nothing more than dangerous crap. People like him are in denial between logical thinking. What happens tomorrow if his guns are used on him? Would Larry Pratt feel the same way? Shooting are getting worse and worse.
We need to call our senators and congressmen and demand a gun law.

Piers you didn't give that gentlemen a chance to talk you were very rude and I'm disappointed you only care about your views if their we're one teacher in the school with a gun maybe lives would have been saved you can't take all the guns off the street but you can put them in someone's hand who might have saved at least 25 people so I hope you don't have a child as a teacher or a student in school that you have to worry about now stop being so rude and open your mind a little thank you mother of a teacher

I have watched Piers, nightly, since Larry King's retirement.
i will no longer watch the show due to Piers lack of respect for the guests on his show.
I believe in control of assault weapons, but Piers is acting like lunatic using his current
methods of interrogation. Reasonable discourse would be more prudent in attempting to reach
a solution to the problem. Send Piers back to England and get a new (American) host for the program.

Piers Morgan is an arrogant fool. But in this interview he was extremely immature and ignorant to the right of all human beings to live in a free society. To bring his European bias to US airwaves is an insult to us all. Shall we remind him who saved the British!

While I tend to agree with Mr. Morgan's position related to assault rifles, I found his debate style extremely offensive. Pratt came prepared to have an educated debate and Mr. Morgan had no intellectual response so he just resorted to calling him stupid and every other schoolyard name in the book. Can someone get him some big boy pants?

First of all, Piers you are far from being a professional. In all the years I watched Larry King do this show, he never acted like a child as you so eagerly displayed tonight. Secondly, the type gun laws you and the other left wing liberals propose is very similar to what Mexico has in place.......How's that working out for them ?

I do not own a weapon but i would like to say this. Yes, Britain and Germany have low crime rates. 35 compared to 1400. We are also dealing with a country slightly more population then NYC. We are the 3rd largest county on the plannet. All but one mass shooting in the past 62 years have happened in gun free zones. The problem is not a law abiding citizen with assault weapons. A criminal will seek out a place where there is little chance of retaliation. The hardest gun control states have the highest crime rate. Texas is notoriously lax in gun laws and they have a low crime rate. A derranged individual will carryout their intentions despite the laws and accessibility of firearms. Guns were clearly and successfully banned on planes. A determined group of people killed 3000 people with box cutters on 9/11. What did we do here. We have armed pilots (previously banned) and had armed gaurds. Gun free zones need this. In regards to the last 3 shootings, the weapons were acquired illegally. Banning good citizens receiving weapons is irrelevant, Criminals are criminals because they do not follow the law. We need armed gaurds in gun free zones and a mandatory 10 years without parole for any crime involving a firearm plus the crimes sentencing.

I'm sorry to say I found Piers Morgan to be pompous, condescending, and downright rude to his guest who had the audacity to think differently than Piers Morgan does. I've lost all respect for Mr Morgan...... until now I've been impressed with this show, but I'm done. I was interested in trying to understand the perspective of his quest and I couldn't make heads or tails of the discussion because Mr Morgan was too busy having a temper tantrum. This is a very, very serious situation and Mr Morgan, in my mind, made a fiasco out of the discussion by speaking over his guest and insulting him. It was very frustrating to understand what was happening. I must agree with another poster who asks CNN to remove this show. When someone agrees with Morgan's position what they have to say is fascinating, otherwise the person is stupid. Please!!!!!

Piers, when you had good arguments to offer the debate was great but when you resorted to name calling and dogging the arguments of the guest you sounded foolish and petty. It is almost like you have no argument to stand on. If you do give the argument. Thanks.

Current Democrat, current gun owner...wow P- the one side nature of your show on guns is ridiculous...I am out...I am a former High School Teacher and Coach. I own guns and have 3 children, all three have been taught correct gun use. I am done with your show as is our home, you are the moderator since when did I care about your opinion, who in America are you, you're certainly not American...we allow all opinions but are also allowed to change our channel, consider it changed. If Obama decides to make a crazy political run on guns then I am done with the Democratic Party. I do not do anything improper with my guns, I follow the laws, do not try to take away my rights or lobby those who could as I will not tolerate it....not an NRA member nor have ever been but if this knee jerk reaction continues I will be soon....seriously beyond the gun debate I am shocked at your move to insert your self as god, judge and jury on the issue...your wrong, go back to your country, they have less guns as you prefer...me, I have plenty of tools in my garage, saws, hammers, bows, arrows, guns, screw drivers you name it.....none of the have ever got up by themselves and attacked a human being....good luck were done with CNN in this house...goodbye

Piers pack up you, your family, and your bias media and get out of my country. I have served 21+ honorable years of service to this country in the United States Army and have fought for the rights that our forefathers left for us. If I want to own a gun (regardless of the caliber or capability) that is my right. The fact that someone else got a hold of another person's weapons plays no part or has no merit in trying to band assault weapons. It's called stealing which means you need to have better precautions in place to risk mitigate the uncontrolled access to your weapons. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS AN ASSAULT WEAPON OR A KITCHEN KNIFE! You along with the rest of the bias media need to get a life. (,,,and please don't lecture me about losing a child,,,been there)

You are Abusive! Since when does the person who shouts over, doesn't allow someone to answer, call names win an argument?.

It is people like you who cannot control their emotions are the ones who create and yes create havoc are the ones who scare me. Shouting, name calling and talking over those with whom you do not share the same opinion is abhorrent behavior! How can you call yourself a journalist? Is it not your job to ask questions and actually allow them to answer? Is it not your job to have facts not opinions?

I will no longer watch you or Anderson Cooper because I don't ever want to see your face or listen to your voice. Perhaps watching / judging a entertainment show is better for all of us.....

Mr Morgan is the idiot! If you are going to have a guest speak at least have the respect to allow them to voice their side without cutting them of and calling them names. Piers is not doing his side any good. Piers acts like a bratty child who doesn't get his way! Grow up Mr Morgan. CNN get a better speaker. Erin Burnett blows Mr Morgan out of the water,

I can't believe CNN would employ an imbecile like Morgan. He's a brit and has no concept of what his guest was talking about. A gun is a tool. Would you rather people were killed with a machete? The problem is crazy people and then the idiots like Morgan who refuse to acknowledge it. Hi8s arrogance will create more disarmed victims. One should ask, if put in a similar situation, would he want a weapon in his hand or would he rather wait for a cop? His green card should be revoked, and CNN should apologize to all of us.

Wow. Just about the most unprofessional interview that I can recall seeing.
Please skip the guest next time you want to present your opinion and you won't look like such a fool.
I would be fine with considering bans on assult weapons and still found this interview painful to watch. Absolutly no reson for this guy to have his own show.

I thoroughly agree with your findings regarding Pratt Mr Morgan! He is an bleeding idiot!

One thing I might like to add is that America has a strong bigoted under-class and Pratt underscores the under class! They greatly "lack" the ability to reason with or make connection with other people. Hence their solutions are always based on violence! It was something that I do not think you were prepared for Mr. Morgan.

That's why they can still look at the "Trayvon Martin murder" as being justified as well. These people (largely "Republican") aren't going to see any other point of view because of their general "hatred" for people!

Research most of these gun advocates. Most have connection with or are sympathetic to some form of bigoted extremist group!

You want to know what the driving force behind America's fascination with guns is? It our "bloody" history of bigotry and colonialism!

Ummmm.... You and piers definitely belong together. Bigotry????? Really???? That's the cause of gun violence.... Huh? Interracial violent crime is at an all time low. Can you liberals stop trying to make everything about race, and bigotry?

Piers,
I appreciate you not letting that idiot get away with lies and manipulating the truth. Of course the murder rate is lower in rural areas where guns are allowed – the population is so much lower than cities. It would be idiotic to arm teachers. This guy was suggesting teachers walk around with semi-auto rifles, why not grenades?? What a complete idiot. Please keep it up the conversation. Guns are a national embarrassment.

one teacher with one hand gun, locked. that would have only taken only one moment to unlock. And not just stand there with her kids hiding and the gun men walked in and killed her. she could have killed him and ended it there and now. one hand gun locked for the kids saved not to hurt them self with her gun. But her with the same power to fight back is better than standing and dieing. You are a fool for thinking this is better to die this way.

Piers Morgan, you were totally unprepared for Larry Pratt, and he made a complete fool out of you, plain and simple. This is the problem with liberals. When you out duel them in a debate, they lose their equanimity and resort to name-calling.

Really, Mr. Morgan? A personal attack against Mr. Pratt? I had so much respect for you until this evening...I am ashamed for you. You want to "finish your sentence"? Watch your show back. You will see you are as degrading and bullying as you accuse Mr. Pratt of being! If you are going to host a TV show for individuals to present their answers and views to your questions, then you must allow them to answer without the name calling and playground tactics of talking over them. Slow down, LISTEN, put yourself in the victims' place: how would you have felt under attack without defense? Criminals and their ilk will ALWAYS find a way to get guns.

Look, the way we solve this problem is a multi-layered defense similar to the actions we took after Sep. 11, 2001 to protect the travel industry. There was a paradigm shift then that hasn't take place since events like Columbine:

Airline pilots were armed – arm the teachers
Aircrew, ground crew, and support personnel received training to identify and react to threats – train the principals, teachers, adminsitrators, cafeteria workers, and janitors

The problem isn't the 2nd amendment; it's the misapplication of it: everyone forgets the "well-regulated" part...

Please raise the following with gun advocates:
If Mr. Pratt's premise that protecting children with guns is necessary against evil forces that use guns, would eliminating possession of guns all together result in a measurable reduction in security risks against the most vulnerable in our society? Why or why not? Why has other nations been able to achieve less gun related deaths?
With rights comes responsibility. In exercising the right to own guns or the means to self defense by using guns increases, directly or indirectly, through permissive access to guns, guns in the hand of evil forces, what measure of responsibility should those exercising the right to gun ownership bear towards providing security to other members of society?
Why should other members of society bear the associative costs of gun owners pursuing the right to arm themselves in the manner that they do?
If the argument that everyone owning guns or weapons against evil forces is the solution to communal security, what happens if there is an escalation of this process? If this is acceptable, why not continue the Cold War – or allow unstable regimes access to nuclear armaments so they too, can feel safe?

Please DO NOT listen to all these negative comments you are a great reporter. It's sad that you have more PASSSION for this country than its born residents. Pratt was WAY out of line and obviously taking jabs at the Brits – let him call it. I bet if Pratt's CHILD was the one who was killed at Sandy Hook he would be singing a different tune. LOVE YOU PIERS!

How do you think Mr. Morgan would feel if one of his loved ones was involved in such a horrible, senseless massacre?
He was rude and childless to his guest with his name calling, interruptions, and utter disrespect. He let his personal anti-gun opinions cloud any REAL journalistic worth...
I hope there never comes a time when he, Mr. Morgan ever needs the aid or protection of an armed law enforcement or law abiding civilian. It's my opinion that he may have a different consideration to the legal use of weapons in protecting innocent victims.
God bless the Families who have been effected by this or any other senseless crime.

Piers, constant interruption of the person you're 'interviewing' is so obviously juvenile. How can you get an answer? The US left the UK because we wanted our own destiny in our own hands. Read "More Guns, Less Crime" and "Guns and Violence:The English Experience" and then you might get a better picture. You are correct that there are more guns in private hands in the US- and our crime rate has been going down for the last 20 years. States which have 'shall-issue' concealed carry consistently have lower violent crime rates. If Israel arms it's teachers, why not here? Proper training is the key, and there are a number of private companies that do this, along with the NRA. "Bitter clingers" aren't the problem-honest, law-abiding gun owners aren't the problem. The problem is a pop culture that feeds violence to us as entertainment, and then condemns gun owners for the inevitable minute percentage of copycat killers. Did you know that the worst attack against an elementary school in the US took place in 1927? It was in Bath Township, Michigan, and the killer used explosives. So did Tim McVeigh. So what shall we ban? Explosives? Fertilizer? Trucks? Should we search everyone who boards the London Subway? You can do better!

CNN should be ashamed of letting Piers be on their network. I consider myself a moderate, but after watching this foolish display of journalism I will gladly switch my TV back to Fox. Hope your happy CNN. You actually had a few good programs, but this has gone too far.

I am so disappointed with Piers Morgan's unprofessionalism displayed during his interview tonight. He was very rude, interrupting the his guest. And worse yet, name calling was something I thought was beneath him. I was amazed to see this behavior from him and I was shocked by his biased, self motivated reporting. So very, very disappointed!

I agree fully! So angry with his behaviour as I have always held him in such high regard. I can't believe CNN allowed this AGAIN....a mimic of last night's interview where he was also very disrespectful and obviously had preconceived notions, not allowing a fair dialogue. YES! it is horrible what happened, but it should not enable persons of the media to behave this way....

I for one am so grateful that Mr Morgan is actually expressing to these evil gun merchants the outrage that so many of us feel about this issue. The time for quiet dialogue is over. So many people above are willing to tolerate rapid fire lethal bullets but are appalled and outraged by rapid fire lethal words. Keep screaming for all of us Mr. Morgan. A small child was just killed this week in Pennsylvania by his father, as he was getting into the car, and accidentlly discharged his handgun. Would Jesus not weep?

Hooray Piers Morgan for attempting to debate gun control with pro-gun advocates. Americans have such a strong connection to the 2nd amendment that they seem incapable of logical thought. Wasn't the 2nd ammendment written in a time of war, to enable its citizens to fight an invading army? Times have changed and so should their ammendment. Further, in response to all those pro-gun advocates that wish to convey the message that more guns can make the US a safer place, it didn't help Adam Lanza's mother, did it? She owned 6 guns and was not able to defend herself.

Piers, do you, or anyone else preaching "assault weapon bans" recall a group of SICK MURDERS. on 9/11, killed 2977 innocent victims with the use of BOX CUTTERS ?
Your argument this evening was very disturbing . It's NOT the weapon that kills people, it's the deranged person behind the weapon of choice.
My heart goes out to the poor, helpless children and adults who loss their lives.

Exactly! And since 9/11 box cutters (and even nail clippers) have been banned from airplanes. Also, everyone's shoes need to be inspected because of a single aborted incident. In a rational world, it would follow that weapons meant to easily kill humans should be banned not only from schools but from society at large. But the gun lovers live in a fantasy world and rational policies are impossible to establish.

I want to thank you for your taking on these misguided individuals like the one just on your show. No one is asking Americans to give up their weapons of protection but are asking that assault weapons be limited to our military and law enforcement. Likewise, the magazines with multiple rounds need to be banned. No one needs these weapons! These little lives that were riddled with multiple shots....big holes in their little bodies! Absolutely unbelievable!

Ya lets arm are teachers so now the guns are already in the school now the kids don't have to steal there parents or anyone else's. that's got to be the most ignorate thing I've heard. You people make me sick.

Piers is an absolute idiot. Did it ever cross his fish and chips fried brain that these psychos target movie theaters and schools because they know that nobody in the place is armed????? And Kathy Killon the guns in question are not "automatic" weapons, do your homework.

Mr. Morgan needs to watch Sean Hannity and learn from an expert on how to handle people with opposing views. You are not ready for the big time Piers. You need to go back to judging juggling acts and clowns.

Sean Hannity??? You have got be kidding !!! I don't like Morgan and his pompous arrogance on this matter, but Sean Hannity is an empty headed bigoted fool.
The real problem is that the programs like CNN and Fox News call themselves News Media. But they are not. They are Opinion (presented as fact) media. You cannot trust anything you hear on those channels. The don't understand the meaning of neutral journalism.

I do not disagree with the fact that both Fox and CNN are opinion based but Sean Hannity treats people with respect. I don't know how you can call him bigoted. I guess respect and common decency is a thing of the past.

I have never watched Piers Morgan before and I will never watch him again. I was amazed by his rudeness and arrogance towards his guest, Larry Pratt. Calling someone "an unbelievely stupid man" and constantly interrupting reflects very poorly on Piers, not his guest. Piers bullied Mr. Pratt for having an opposing view. Shame on Piers Morgan for displaying such behavior during a time when all should be showing respect and compassion during this horrible tragedy.

I just watched Piers acting stubborn and shamefully immature. If it were the teachers who carried guns and were trained to use them responsibly #Newtown would not be trending right now. Just think about it. The Criminals will get their guns by any means. and its the criminals who will always have the advantage against the armless.

I never really knew how immature Piers could behave until his performance in this debate. Very professional as long as it goes his way. One has to admit when looking at the 'big picture' that the government won't and can't respond quickly enough to rescue every person in every emergency situation. Supporters of guns are refusing to allow themselves to be victims, if at all possible. Its obvious that guns will be available in the black market, to those who wish to do harm, even if gun bans are enforced. Only people who wish to go through concealed weapon carry processes will do so. It will not be 'enforced' on others who choose not to do so. Interesting though that those people look to 'trained' personnel carrying guns to come to their aid when needed.

You are doing a great job Piers! I love that there is someone like you on TV who is not afraid to call it like it is. You give a voice to all of us who want to say these things to people like Pratt, who came across like an idiot with his "arm the teachers" argument. I honestly could not believe these words came out of his mouth. I wonder if he realizes how ridiculous and sick he is...Who can even conceive of such notion?!!

What kind of people? Well it's people who have looked at the history, looked at the statistics and think logically about the issue. We don't need to resort to name calling and irrational emotion like your hero Morgan there.

Pierce was so angry that he missed the main point: Mr. Pratt by his philosophy and claims is basically forcing us all to carry guns for our self-defense and well being of our families and other people who rely on us. All this just to protect his rights to have and distribute guns of any type to anyone even if such may become easily and readily available to such individuals he calls evil ....

Jacob. you don't understand if you think Larry is trying to force you to carry. How is giving teachers and administrators the option to carry a concealed weapon going to increase your chance of being hurt? Do you think they are going to shoot you?

To all those people who say Piers was rude and unprofessional, well let me say this to you. If it was YOUR CHILD that was MURDERED, you wouldn't be criticizing him at all so stop with the pettiness on his approach and passion for the victims!

But Piers did not have a child who was killed in this horrific event. So really he had no excuse did he? Have any of the parents actually bully anyone? No the parents and families of the six women haven't!

Don't use my countries name to reflect your moronic hateful ignorance. Understand that responsible adults who are trained to use a firearm such as a cop, could have ended the spree and saved more lives then to just allow a psycho to continue running postal. USE YOUR BRAIN MAN!

We all feel the sadness and are going through this tears, prayer and pain. As a mom, If my children would have been in this elem school I would have prayed the teachers and or staff would have been able to protect themselves and my children with a CHL license and gun instead of using their bodies. Some or all the murders I believe would have been none to maybe few. As it was the teachers did All they could above and beyond but at a huge cost, the lives of the teachers and the children.

Morgan isn't speaking on behalf of those parents or family members. He's speaking for his own agenda and when history and statistics don't back up his illogical stance he resorts to name calling. That is not a mature or intelligent way to have a debate.

If it was my child murdered, I'd be blaming the school district and the government and ignorant people passing ignorant laws for forcing my child to attend school in a "gun-free zone" where law-abiding people who could at least have a chance of protecting my child are forced to be unarmed and defenseless while criminals who don't care about laws are armed and do whatever they want.

I second your motion. Piers interviewed a relative of one of the child victims before speaking with Larry Pratt. The man was not interested at all n talking about partisan politics. He was talking from the heart and paying tribute to the little girl. I knew that Piers was eventually going to ask him about gun control. He did, in his typical pompous manner. The situation in our country is about much more than the presence of guns. There is an epidemic of pharmacological abuse by psychiatrists, aided and abetted by Big Pharma. We should not be talking about a war on guns or a war on street drugs. We should be talking about the need to combat Big Pharma which is destroying the fabric of our society.

Why do you have a guest? He wasn't allowed to speak. You kept pushing your left wing, British garbage..
CNN took a giant step down when they hired you to replace a real tv journalist. He let the other side be heard.
If you want to do a real sevice to the community, get a one way ticket home.
You and your socialistic ideals are repulsive to real Americans.

Tried to express my thoughts on this and Piers possy has filtered me out. That's right Morgan plug your ears and bury your head in the sand and everything will be alright. Or deal with reality and decide not to take a knife to a gun fight stupid!

I have liked Piers in the past. But, he has increasing gotten on his partisan horse and ridden roughshod over his guests and his viewers. Tonight, he showed his true priggish colors by failing to enter into meaningful dialogue with his opponent. Ad hominem attacks have no place in journalistic interviewing.

Piers, your a knob. You should go back to were ever it was you came from. Just what the heck are you doing here in North America anyways? You like many others think the criminals are going to obey gun laws? Your a special kind of stupid aren't you? You should try to use that bump on your shoulders for more then a place to rest your hat. Criminals support gun laws you fool! The stats speak for themselves, You sir are a victim looking for a place to bleed out. My heart goes out to the families of the tragedy but had the teachers been trained and equipped with side arm's how far do you think that monster would have got? All kinds of authorities walk around with side arm's in public places, shopping centre's restaurants, arena's the list goes on and on. I've not heard of to many cases where a criminal disarmed a cop and killed them in a public place. If it wasn't an AR 15 it would've been something else like a shotgun! Is your answer to disarm every person so the criminals can do whatever? Your a idiot! I've been a responsible gun owner since I was old enough to carry a dame rifle. My father taught me that a gun is a tool no different then a hammer or a saw or a screw driver anyone of which could be used as a weapon to harm or kill numerous people. My father was taught by my grandfather who was a sniper in the first world war and he wore a kilt. Two of his sons went to war in WWII along with two uncles from my fathers side. Here's the kicker, it was all to save your homeland how well do you think they would have fared if they weren't allowed to carry a gun? criminals love people like you, your an easy target.
Blair J. Goodby
responsible gun owner

Can we get something sorted out right now. There is a huge difference between an Assault a.k.a. battlefield rifle and an assault looking semi-auto sport rifle. Please lets try to remeber that some people get hung up on words, The bushmaster, AR-15, Mini 30 and other semi-auto rifles are no different than a semi-auto hunting rifle other than looks. Its a perfect example of judging a book by its cover which, is exactly what ignorant people do!

I am appalled by Piers Morgan's misbehavior tonight, no journalist I repeat no journalist should be allowed to be so rude, so insolent and self- aggrandizing on air. What he did tonight is not what we want to teach our children I don't care what the issue is. I am completely against gun ownership but still this country thrives on discourse.
What gives Piers the right to repeatedly say this man is full of nonsense is stupid just because he disagrees with what he is saying. I am an avid watcher of CNN, I have NEVER seen Larry King in his days, Anderson Cooper, Soleldad O'Brien, Wolf Blitzer & John King (my favorite people) disrespect guests. This has become Piers pattern of behavior with anything he disagrees with. He throws a tantrum and becomes verbally abusive to guests, he did the same to Kirk Cameron repeatedly calling him a bigot.
This is not what we want to teach our children. I am a teacher and when teaching journalism and Government, I make my students watch CNN reporting. I will not be watching the 10 p.m coverage henceforth it has become Piers’ Celebrity Apprentice Show. Thanks

Well said, Lara. I concur completely. Piers, guess what? "It's not about you." People watch to hear from your guests not from you. Your behavior tonight was appallingly rude and condescending. A good interviewer is ground, not figure.

Sandy Hook was a gun-free zone, which made those children sitting ducks. People who advocate for gun bans should learn a lesson from this. A personnel with firearms training could have immediately taken out that autistic lunatic, even if he had a 30 round magazine. The blood is on your hands, Piers.

I would like to see the medications status of many of these people who commit mass shootings – how many are on anti-dpressants, anti-psycotics or other mind altering drugs? There is some evidence that some people "snap" when on these drugs and in America where guns are so available young people so easily get hold of them with the terrible consequences. It is extremely complex and I think Piers Morgan who is widely travelled has seen how other countries, who have people with mental illnesses in their communities, but guns are not so easily obtainable and sees that the number killed is so much less than in America. I think he really cares that so many people loose their lives in America. I cannot understand why more Americans don't care either.

Tonight is my first time posting on ANY blog, but after tonight's show I had to comment.
Does anyone truly believe any sanctions/ bans that are put on us "Redneck", "Hillbilly", LAW ABIDING gun owners going to stop criminals from obtaining or using illegal guns to rob or murder innocent victims?

I'm done with Piers Morgan. I will never again watch his program though my attention to this time slot gradually changed once Larry King left. Piers Morgan rants like a lunatic. He is rude to guests who were invited to participate in a discussion. He asks a question but never allows the guest to respond. He resorts to name calling and raising his voice. I can't stand it anymore. Please fire him as soon as possible. We deserve a more intelligent commentator. Piers is more suited for the Jerry Springer Show.

U.S.A; "Are You serious" You want school personnels to pack guns? You want gun for gun, an eye for an eye, come on You need gun control. To Piers: Thanks for putting real common sense on this messed up issue, I live in Vancouver BC and lived In L.A. before. Show some intelligence, protect the kids and the community. Peace!

Piers you are a Moran for suggesting that guns are a problem in these shootings. When is the last time a licensed gun owner went into a school or public place and killed people? These people are deranged and if the motive was there to harm others they would have found a way no matter what. And if you are so passionate about gun control why is it just now that you are taking a stand? You are just another media puppet following the status quo for ratings. Please quit your job and go back to judging meaningless talent shows and save us from your high and mighty propaganda and a ting like you actually care. You are a fraud.

Piers Morgan is a perfect fit for the the term "prig," viz., "a self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others." I was exceedingly annoyed by the rudeness shown his guest, i.e., the continually interrupting and overtalking and when this did not succeed, the ad hominem attacks. Increasingly, as I have watched his interviews,I have become disenchanted with his haughty arrogance. Tonight, he showed the emotional irrationality of those who become lost in partisan attacks and who cannot engage in civil, rational debate.

I support a ban on assault weapons and more gun control and regulation. But such kind of "interview" is the shame for CNN. If Mr. Morgan cannot control his emotions and rage, as well as, cannot refrain from repeatedly calling the person he interviews "an idiot" he should be sent back to run his tabloid business where such behavior is tolerated. He makes more harm than good for the cause. I bet he cut the rating of his show substantially tonight and created a lot of NRA sympathizes.

Vad, why tighter regulations and more controls, what would have been different? The firearms used were purchased legally and owned by someone without a criminal past. Sadly the lack of EDUCATION and some common reasoning led to this tragedy. The firearms were acquired by a individual who murdered while they slept by shooting them in the face and taking their unsecured weapons then went on a rampage. I am a law enforcement officer and Veteran, my children have been raised around firearms and know what they can do. I have not taught them how use them yet, I don't not feel that they are mature enough at 4 and 6 to use them, but they do know what to do if they ever find a firearm, and they respect what that can do. They both know where I keep my firearms, locked in the big safe, in the nightstand safe, and on my hip. They do not have access to them, nor would a burglar, or some unstable individual if my house was ever targeted. EDUCATION and common reasoning would have stopped this horrific event, control and regulation was already in place, owner responsibility was not. We live in a society were weapons are easily obtained as crack, meth, or weed, the fact they are illegal still has not ended the problem, regulation and laws only apply to those who chose to follow them.

I will no longer watch Piers and I might decide to not watch CNN anymore. I can not believe he was able to treat a guest speaker that way. He needs to learn how to have an intelligent conversation / debate without name calling and bullying. Freedom of speach applies to both people on this show.....or are you going to try and do away with that liberty too.

I too lost all respect for Piers Morgan. The most unprofessional interview by any journalist I guess I have ever seen. Piers could have made a reasonable rebuttal but he blew that big time with his 'you're an idiot' crap. It is a time for reasonable discussion, but Piers Morgan cannot be part of that. He let his emotions get the best of him, more than once. Pitiful (so called) journalism.

Pierce, thank you for your effort to make the gun problem aware. Apparently people are still not aware and unfortunately it will be forgotten until the next disaster. As a European living in the US for many years I have no understanding for the 2nd amendment in our present times except it is an official license to kill. Who wants to defend themselves can do so without any 2nd amendment. Apart from that if Lanza's mother did not have guns in her home she and the 26 dead would still be alive. Lanza was unable to buy guns in a store because of Connecticut's gun laws. This says how much guns in your home protect you. Unfortunately, Americans have a strange way of what freedom is. Those who are murdered by guns do not have the freedom to live but rather those are protected who have guns.

I have friends at the National Visa Center, and I'm going to make sure Piers' visa does not get renewed. Libturds like to complain about outsourcing American jobs, so why do they tolerate this cut-rate brit tabloid writer to having his own show on an American network?

Thank you Piers for giving SANE Americans a voice, you are saying what we're thinking. The rest are INSANE and controlling the country with their insanity. One hand gun per household for self defense is okay, weapons of mass destruction like assault weapons are NOT. Thank you for calling this Pratt idiot what he is, he must have no soul. His position is responsible for so much loss of life, I believe that makes him responsible for that loss of life and I believe he will face judgement for that one day too.

Piers is not supposed to be a news maker but a news reporter, I'm sick of him acting like a news maker and CNN letting such non-professional spouting that he does go on. I don't really want to hear his personal views compared to the ones being interviewed! His program tonight was not journalism in any sense of the word more so because of the super painful and horrible subject matter of the murders in the school! (and elsewhere!)

Lets get school resource officers a.k.a police officers working out of every school. We have police in airports to ensure quick response if something happens, why not pay for them to have an office in the schools?

Here in South Florida a police branch exists for public schools but it doesn't work out every time. We still get crimes and assaults in schools. The fact is that events like these are based on so many variables, that they're hard to predict and avoid. When events like these happen you get a sense of hind site after the fact on weaknesses which allowed this event to happened.
When people create these atrocities, they are created around the same defenses in place to prevent them from happening. Unfortunately the key issue here is not firearms it is people themselves. Instead of a assault weapon maybe the individual decides to use a machete or maybe a bat. Maybe the individual waits until several classes are in the PE fields and then uses his vehicle to plow over innocent kids. Are they going to ban machetes, bats or vehicles? Unfortunately, firearms are a hot political subject for politicians to use for leverage and a rating macine for the media while they use us (the voters) as puppets.

Mr. Piers Morgan,
A debate by definition is a method of interactive and representational argument. It is a broader form of argument than deductive reasoning, which only examines whether a conclusion is a consequence of premisses, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case, or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion. It is ironic that you're against guns since youre representation invites individuals like Mr. Pratt so you can literally gun him down, by unprofessionally insulting him. The fact that you call Mr. Pratt an Idiot and stupid on CNN (not the clip shown) just confirmed to me my initially my thought of you. The events that took place in Ct. was tragic and indescribable to say the least and my heart goes to the families and loved ones affected. But the truth is that an influential individual as yourself in the front lines jumping in the tragic band wagon, trying to portrait your emotions by insulting guests says it all. This comment is pre-screened by CNN so with that said, I would be very surprised if they post gets approved but I truly hope it at least gets to you.

Can you anti gun freaks do your homework before you open your mouth??? Sarah this may be news to you but our military bases are "gun free" zones. If the soldiers in the clinic were able to carry personal weapons I bet we wouldn't have a terrorist sitting in jail...

300 million guns just isn't enough we need more more I say so there. And we're gonna give them to teachers in every school in america who are already over worked and underpaid and say you are now responsible for not only teaching children but we're gonna put their lives in your hands too. It's fool proof. Oh btw in order to combat fires from now on we'll be puttin them out by starting bigger fires. It's brilliant.

I've watched my last Piers Morgan broadcast. I don't mind his view on the subject, but he is the most unprofessional journalist I've ever seen. I may not agree with all that Mr Pratt said, but Mr Pratt was the more professional party to this interview.

Piers you are pathetic! Let the man answer your question. You tried to belittle him by repeating that he was laughing. He was laughing bc you are ridiculous. So let's go ahead and pretend assault weapons were banned last year. This will not stop Criminals. Nothing stops criminals. What happens after the ban of assault weapons...I'll tell you what happens next it will be all guns period. I, a law abiding American citizen would be an unarmed victim. The criminals will get guns. You called Larry an idiot. You are the idiot!

are people really serious that the second ammendment should be repealed in a country where the gun owning civillians is the main thing that keeps our corrupt goverment in check if all guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns people will find a way to buy smuggle or trade for a gun i do not own a gun but i do hunt with one of my brothers and i do agree that we don't need automatic/semi-automatic assualt weapons on our streets and never met anyone who hunts with one but if we ban guns and let the goverment force people to give up their guns or be prosecuted that doesn't sound like freedom to me sounds like a nazi communist police state we are slowly loseing our freedoms in this country and people are demanding those freedoms be taken away to feel safe and that the goverment will take care of you which is insane to believe just look at the few laws that have been passed in the last few years the patriot act,The National Defense Authorization Act, and everybody knows new yorkers can only buy 16oz of soda at a time lol how many more freedoms will they have to take away before they have complete control over all of us and can tell us how many children you can have what kind of car you can drive what kind of house you can build we are all sheep to them and sheep are almost always sent to sloughter

I think that emotions and anger about what has happened are to raw for any discussion to be productive this early. I do believe that changes need to be made to protect everyones lives and rights ,and wish that governments were proactive rather than reactive

Give them Hell, Piers! The American people need to hear the truth. I love way you don't back down and the way you tell pro-gun nuts that they are nuts. I grew up in the 1950's and we never had such people like the NRA arguing that everyone should carry military weapons. They would have been considered crazy and dangerous back then because they are. History will consider these people the way we look at Joseph McCarthy – like dangerous kooks. They have brought the war mentality home to us from overseas; they have brought their war profiteering home to us. Is this what Iraq was like? We are under siege by the weapons sellers. We had a 22 rifle when I was a child, and the our father warned us about shooting a family member by accident, which is 12 times more likely with a gun in the home. When we said "we'll leave the light on" when someone came home, it was partly so we wouldn't shoot them by accident. And finally, the Second Amendment is not about individual ownership, but about the relationship between the military being supplied with its weapons by the citizens. And now I have learned from Piers Morgan's Show that for the first 100 years, "the rights of the people to keep and bear arms" referred only to the state's police. The Republican and military business community have stolen this amendment for its own use to raise gun profits. They are the military industrial complex come home to roost – come home to victimize the American people. Why go overseas to make money on wars, when they can do the same here. I say that we should have the same gun ownership laws as Israel. And no individual should out-gun the police.

You used Germany and Britain as examples of countries that have low gun crime levels. While this might be the case, what you failed to tell your audience is Germany is the 4th largest gun owning nation on the planet (source UN stats) and that despite their substantial gun ownership rate (30.3 guns per 100 people) the overall murder rate in Germany is 30% lower than Britain's, where most guns have been banned. By contrast Britain ranks 88th in the world in terms of gun ownership. Maybe next time you could explain to your audience why the overall murder rate in Britain is so much higher than the German rate, given the absence of guns.

In previous shows, you've also used France, Italy and Spain as examples of countries that have low gun homicide rates, however all of these countries are big gun owning nations too (France ranks 12th, Italy ranks 15th and Spain ranks 18th), and like Germany have much lower overall homicide rates than your own.

I think you need to provide an explanation, because if guns are the problem, as you keep claiming, all of these European countries would have substantially higher homicide rates than your own.

There were 323 murders in the US in 2011 that a rifle was used according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report 2011; 12,664 murders were reported, 750 were children under the age of 16.

8,583 Involved firearms, 323 were rifles, 6,220 were handguns, 356 were shotguns, 1,676 were firearms of an unknown type.
4,081 did NOT involve a firearm in the manner of death; 1,694 were knifes/cutting weapons, 1,659 were ‘other weapons’, 728 lives were taken by hand/feet, etc.

In 2010, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention -10,228 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes.
Of the 1,210 traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2010, 211 (17%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.

I worry more about the guy driving next to me on the highway then the law abiding citizen who owns a black rifle with lots of cosmetic trimmings.

Guess it's true, little people worry about little things, 323 lives lost to rifle shootings is better to focus on the then 10,228 lives lost to drunks.

I just saw this debate on Facebook. I don't watch CNN. Neither do I watch FOX or MSNBC. I prefer my news to be unbiased. However, I have to say this. In the US, there are an average of 20,000 gun related deaths each year. Out of these, 17,000 are suicides. That leaves 12,000 deaths per year that are a combination of homicide, self defense killings and accidental deaths.

With this taken into consideration, Piers Morgan was either mistaken or flat out lying when he said that we have the highest gun murder rate in the world. Both Thailand and Guatemala have higher rates by far.

For the sake of argument, let's take that 12,000 and call them all murder. Fine. This is roughly 0.0004% of the population. This number, when looking purely at the numbers, is insignificant.

I realize this is not a popular statement, but we have a Second Amendment, not for hunting, but to ensure that, in the event of an attempt at tyrannical takeover of the government and the country or our individual lives, either external or internal, we can form a militia to defend our liberties. Now, how are we supposed to defend those liberties with flintlock muskets and single action pistols? Don't answer that... it's rhetorical.

Do you call the number of soldiers who died in Irak or Afghanistan insignificant? Do you call the number of Americans who die because of terrorist attacks insignificant? Those numbers are smaller than 12,000. If people die because of something whether it is disease, crime, accident or whatever, it is always important to do something. What is significant and what not? Sorry I am not agreeing with your logic. If somebody in your family is shot, it's only one life. It's "not significant".

Why don't we talk about how the POTUS is now considering infringing our liberties and ability to defend ourselves while sanctioning drone attacks that have killed more children in the last couple of years than all of the mass shootings combined?

I have lost all respect for piers he is an idiot who does not want to hear statistics unless they support his idea. Logic does not even come into play in his debate or anyone who agrees with him. The facts the man was stating are facts. If in places where it is easy to conceal and carry a firearm the statistics are dramatically lower than where guns are highly regulated or outlawed then the logical solution would be to follow what works the best to lower the crime rates. If you don't want to follow the statistically proven way then you must like higher crime rates. Ideas are just ideas without facts and all I hear from anti gun people are ideas I never hear facts or statistics to support their solutions. In grade school science they taught us to form a hypothesis then gather data to find a logical conclusion. I would like to just once hear the data you anti gun people base your opinion on. I have been asking people for this for years and have yet to hear anything but silly opinions and feelings . You all have your debate show me a country with individual liberty Where guns being taken away improved violent crime rates. Show me actual statistics and don't show me some totalitarian police state government where people are afraid to even speak freely.

Sure. Great Britain had 35 murders compared to our 12,000 (+/-) : (not to mention that the 12,000 number also includes legal self-defense killings and accidents). However, the population of the US is 311,000,000 and the population of GB is 35,000,000. The percentage of the population in the US who are murdered by guns in the US is 0.0004%. The percentage of the population of GB who are murdered by guns is 0.0001%. Not that big a difference, really.

But Rachel, while gun deaths in the Britain are low, the overall violent crime and homicide rates, despite the absence of guns, is the highest in Western Europe. The Germans, the French, the Swiss, the Italians and the Spanish, to name a few of your close neighbors, are some of biggest gun owning countries on the planet. The Swiss and Germans rank in the top 4, the French, Italians and Spanish rank close behind. Your country conversely has one of the lowest gun ownership levels (ranked 88th) and yet all of these other countries have substantially lower overall homicides rates. Maybe you could explain why the probability of getting murdered in Britain is so much higher than any of your gun totting neighbors – the overall murder rate in Germany and Switzerland for instance is 30% lower than Britain's. Guns are clearly not the problem, because if they were, these countries would all have substantially higher homicide rates than Britain. The question that should be asked is why are some societies, like Britain, more violent than others?

But Rachel, while gun deaths in Britain are low, the overall violent crime and homicide rates, despite the absence of guns, is the highest in Western Europe. The Germans, the French, the Swiss, the Italians and the Spanish, to name a few of your close neighbors, are some of biggest gun owning countries on the planet. The Swiss and Germans rank in the top 4, the French, Italians and Spanish rank close behind. Your country conversely has one of the lowest gun ownership levels (ranked 88th) and yet all of these other countries have substantially lower overall homicides rates. Maybe you could explain why the probability of getting murdered in Britain is so much higher than any of your gun totting neighbors – the overall murder rate in Germany and Switzerland for instance is 30% lower than Britain's. Guns are clearly not the problem, because if they were, these countries would all have substantially higher homicide rates than Britain. The question that should be asked is why are some societies, like Britain, more violent than others?

Better vigilant than victim. I'm not all about taking my guns out and controlling crime, but if crime comes to me I will defend myself and my family. If you are so anti-gun you should put a sign in your yard stating so. Go ahead and exercise your freedom of speech. I will put a pro second amendment sign in my yard. We will see what neighborhood the criminals move into. You are very quick to offer up someone’s rights but when they come knocking on your door to take your rights you will have no one to blame but yourself and your bleeding heart buddies.

My Goodness – Americans are depicted to the rest of the world as not the most intelligent race; clearly displayed and confirmed in the comments here. Facts speak for themselves. Death rates from guns in GB : 35. Death results from guns in US: 12,000. Other countries of the world understand these statistics – let's pray that Americans can catch up (give then them time, the brain cells might kick in )!!!!

Rachel,
Your numbers does not show justification. The numbers concerned here should be based on homicides which is the real issue here, not which numbers of them was caused by firearms only and no other data. It is obvious that the numbers in the US related to firearms will be high due to the number of firearms.. If you compare the number of firearms in UK vs. its census vs. homicide by firearm and do the same for the US, you will not see much of a difference.
Adam is on cue as to the root on numbers.

Funny statement coming from someone who throws insults around like a child. Especially when all you have to do to find the news articles is do a little internet search.

But, doesn't surprise me that anti-gun rights people are ignorant of how to do an internet search just like how they are ignorant on what an "assault rifle" is and ignorant about what "gun-free zones" actually do and how YET ANOTHER day has gone by with their failure to answer simple and direct questions I've posted such as how their proposed gun laws would have actually stopped this guy.

I think it goes beyond ignorance, though. Anti-gun rights people simply don't care. They don't care about the truth, they don't care about facts, they don't care about honest discussion, and they certainly don't care about protecting little kids.

Any educated person will tell you to win a debate here and convice the naysayers to your side of the issue, you list your sources. Not act like baby telling the people you're trying to convice to go and look up on their own. Sorry, pal, you lost the debate here by losing all credibility.

How does this individual have a show? I have never seen such an unprofessional exchange. If you are going to have a debate at least present complete facts and allow your guest to answer your questions. What kind of host resorts to name calling? This was my first and last time every watching this show. CNN has really lowered their standards.

I use to watch CNN quite a bit & enjoyed Larry King but these days I watch less and less. I would like to say alot here because there a several issues, BUT, the most important matter I want to address is, no matter what I think about gun control, the fact that, YOU, Piers Morgan, were extremely RUDE AND UNPROFESSIONAL (rude & unprofessional like usual, but tonight you increased to extremely) to your guest in this interview. Don't invite speakers onto your show and resort to name calling like a child & call them 'stupid'. If you call yourself a journalist, you are a far cry from that (like many other "journalists" these days). The likes of Walter Cronkite, ect are rolling over in their graves. Like many other commenters here who have said that CNN should be totally embarrassed & should fire you, I agree ~ but not holding my breath. And before you or anyone might want to call me names or that I am a heartless person toward this tragedy, I will have you know that I have a son who is a first grader & I have been crying at the tv all week, especially when I see these sweet little 6/7 yr old faces.

Sane Americans should go to the SignOn Org website for gun control and add to the 400,000 sane Americans that have signed in just 2 days. Ask yourself after Sandyhook what would Nancy Lanza do? Don't be the next Nancy Lanza and don't be the next victim in a mall or school shooting. This is for gun control, not elimination. Assault weapons are for killing masses of people in seconds, you don't need that now do you? Sign now!

In all this, we miss where it all starts. The problem is not the gun. It's the parenting. This starts from the day you were born or your child is born. Faith, morals, values, what's right and what's wrong. We have lost it as a country. Whether your child is normal or mentally challenged/ill, it's YOUR responsibility Moms' and Dads'. Don't blame it on the 2nd amendment and guns...look in the mirror! Lastly, Piers is clueless, all it would have taken was one person with the correct training to start firing back at the crazy maniac and I truly believe lives would have been saved. They teach this in the military (suppressive fire) because it works. In real life, unless you want to get shot, you take cover (Piers, trust me you would take cover). Either this guy would have been killed or he would have stopped trying to freely murder innocent children to protect himself. If the shooter doesn't value their life, like in a majority of these horrible shootings, he probably takes his own life.

To those who are reading the anti Piers messages, like "Wow" and others internationally, most Americans are not so obtuse as many of these posters today. They are just part of that noisy few that are not representative of the many Americans with a brain. They are making a point to get online and be noisy. I appreciate PIers' comments and passion after all, he's expressing the anger that so many of us feel at the non sensical need for these noisy Americans to have personal weapons of mass destruction. Weapons of mass destruction are outlawed by the UN in every other instance, do you want them to step in here? If this keeps up maybe they should.

Of course so many Americans are saying you won't watch Piers Morgan again... that's because you have so many other "important, educational & intelligent" shows to watch like Jersey Shore and Honey Boo Boo.

Piers. I am a retired US Army soldier who would fight and potentially die for you to be allowed to have your opinion. I am; however, wholly disappointed in your performance in your interview with Larry Pratt. You were very unprofessional and crossed several lines between journalism and personal opinion. Name calling and bullying were tactics are I don’t normally associate with your program. If I hadn't known better I would have thought that I was listening to Ed Shultz or Bill O'Reilly. You would ask him a question and talk over the top of him when you did not agree with what he was saying. I was never a big fan of your liberal leaning opinions but watched your program because you would normally, at least, allow the other side to be heard. I will no longer watch your program and will openly oppose it when my friends and family speak of it. Feel free to contact me via email if you wish. Respectfully,
Bret

We are all sad about the Newtown tragedy and our hearts are broken by such senseless loss.
The real blame has to be placed with Nancy Lanza, the shooter's mother. She should not have introduced her mentally-ill son to weapons of any type. She should not have taken him to shooting ranges. Ms. Lanza could legally have these guns but she has a moral responsibility to keep them locked so that her son does not have access to them. Such poor judgment by Ms. Lanza was the main factor in this mass murder.
I agree that there should be restrictions on assault rifles and the number of rounds in a magazine. However, Adam Lanza had two pistols with him during the attack. If he came to Sandy Hook Elementary School with just those weapons, unfortunately, the results may have been the same. Teachers and first grade students would have been just as vulnerable and helpless against a madman with pistols and multiple clips of ammunition.
Let’s not lose sight of the real problem: irresponsible gun owners, access to any type of weapon and mentally-ill individuals can be a deadly combination.

To BTD, not really. These people who do these horrible mass crimes are mentally ill. A parent with a mentally ill child does not have that kind of influence over the actions of that child, no matter how good of a parent they are. Teachers should not be expected to defend themselves against assault weapons, though I do think it would be good for every school to have a designated police officer on daily duty.

CNN is my favor Network, but i think that replacing a nice person like Larry King with a person that does not respect other people opinions and offend people that are invited is very discusting and irritating, we do not need people from other countries treat us in our country like trash, CNN can find BETTER, please send this person back to his country, we do not need this BS, I'm sure all over the country are missing Larry King he was really the best. Thank you.

Great job Piers!!! Well spoken, to the point and no holding back! Loved it! Pratt IS and idiot w/no sensitivity and no respect for human life. No matter how many more gun deaths in this country there are, Pratt is the kiind of man who is too stubborn to admit he was wrong and we DO need strict gun laws–I am an American and he is an embarrassment to this nation! Never back down Piers–I know I'm not.

Sorry, you must have skipped the statement that includes how the gun owner was shot on the face as she lay in bed sleeping, then how that degenerate took those stolen weapons and went on to carry out his deranged plans; good thing he didn't decide to Google a few sties and stop by the local hardware store to make pipe bombs in order escalate the carnage of his rampage.... If he did we would have to close all the hardware stores... BTW I have yet to see the media remind us of the 10,228 people who were killed by drunk drivers, we seem to want to highlite the 323 people who died from rifle shooting in the last year, let work on banning car next!

First of all the guns weren't stolen as you say. His mother legally purchased them. His mother took her deranged son target shooting so I believe he considered these guns his also. These things you name, Cars, hardware stores main purpose is not to kill people! Guns ONLY intent is to kill! Lets's not get ridiculous–anything can be used as a weapon but NOTHING compares to a gun, which again it's only purpose it to kill. I seriously think a lot of ppl who own guns look at it as a "cool" factor and in reality have low self-esteems and this makes them feel powerful–very sad.

Of course they were his mom's guns and he stole them. He tried to get his own before that but failed on the paperwork for some reason. Gee, look at that, the required background check and paperwork and waiting period doesn't stop the guy from killing people because he just goes and steals the guns anyway.

American gun owners are NOT always responsible. I work for the police service, in a Canadian city, and there are NUMEROUS gun owners who come up to Canada, to hunt, and leave their hunting rifles in plain sight of their cars and trucks to be found by an opportunistic criminal who will in turn sell it or use it in a violent crime.

Really some of you people are morons, no wonder these things keep happening cause you think like that idiot larry. If this killings have not shaken you up then you have no heart and just stupid. Time to change these guns laws. Piers did it right and he has the right to do what he did i would to and it's his show, people talking stupidity needs to be shut up .And funny the gops are quiet on this, birds of a feather flock together, lol.

The intent of the 2nd Amendment is as a check on government. It is not for hunting or home defense. But here's my idea – what if we only allow citizens to keep one gun or rifle at home, and if you wanted any more guns, your other guns would need to be stored at a gun club or local militia? We can legislate a citizen's militia, which would basically self-police gun owners.

That's a great idea. When me and my kids are confronted by a criminal with a gun in a shopping mall parking lot I will just have him follow me home or to my gun club so I can get my gun and we can make things all even and fair.

hey carol dont forget to tell the criminal that, i am sure he will love your + – Equation. hey maybe you happen to know. for how long have the government and police been fighting agaisn criminals and drug dealers? how is that working? ohh yeah some get cought but most get away and i guess they dont have guns.

Never said it was a perfect world. Of course there will be crime no matter what measures police take. Banning assault weapons like the ones used in these shootings needs to happen and the assault weapons that have already been purchased need to be tracked and confiscated. Again, what MORE do you need to see. We are the only ADVANCED nation with and astronomical number of gun related deaths among it's citizens–HELLO!!!!

To lol and others like him. Yeah, apparently people can't be trusted and we do need more government control over some things. Like Assault weapons, check with us about how you feel after you are faced with one. Also, we apparently needed more government control with regulations over banks that got us into a financial mess. You can't trust peoples judgement about some things. People who are self centered and greedy are not looking out for your well being. Just look at the facts, just look at history, people who don't repeat the same mistakes OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Let's stop being idiots on this issue and wake up!

Ray, Piers did nothing wrong! What you just said is an embarrassment to this nation. You are not the kind of individual who should ever represent Americans or speak collectively for Americans–I can only hope other ppl in this country and other countries can see your ignorance!

I would like all the gun banning people to explain and provide evidence for how their proposed gun laws would have actually stopped this shooter. He stole the guns and used them on little kids and adults all made defenseless thanks to being in a "gun-free zone."

Have you ever considered that maybe wackos shoot up schools because they know no one there even has a chance of stopping them because the people there are all required by law to be unarmed and defenseless? You send your kids off to school every day to a place where law-abiding citizens are required by law to be defenseless and criminals KNOW they are defenseless.

Sending kids off to a place where criminals KNOW they are defenseless and unprotected sounds like a pretty dumb place to send kids to.

the right to bear arms is a "natural right"? you are STUPIDER than ALL the stupid dodo-brains whose comments don't make any sense. You pro-gun fanatics are like that infant/toddler who sees "adults" coming to take away your "toys", and of course, you cry like little babies...waaahwawawawaahwaaah!! wesseid, i'm not even American, and even I know better than you what your 2nd Amendment means...Bahaahaahaahaahahaaa!!

When you close you eyes and listen to the spin that comes out of these NRA self centered mofo's" as they laugh", it's as if the Hitler never died and wrote their sentences ! Paranoia is also a mental health issue and if that's the case members of the NRA who think there should be more guns should have they're permits and guns pulled!

ok lets let the goverment make all our decisions for us like were a bunch of mindless drones and see how far u get and for your information i was robbed in my own home a few years ago and wish i did have a gun

We all agree that tougher laws are needed to prevent people like this young men to have access to firearms and do what he did but for you to speak to a guess invite to your show like that is not very pleasant to watch so tonight was the last time I watch you on tv. But please just stop and look around all the wars going on, banks and wall street running wild and only getting a slap in the wrist by the courts when caught, president signing secret orders to protect the people he says from terrorist he is supporting with weapon and hiding the truth of what really happened with fast and furious to blame the second amendment not to mention Benghazi and you are asking the only citizen arm country aside from the Swiss left to turn in their guns? Go check the crime rate in Switzerland where every citizen fit mentally and physically is order to have a gun, go ask what their crime rate is. Mr Morgan have you ever read history? What happened to Germany after the people where order to turn in their guns? Have you ever herd of the name Hitler? How about when Chinese where order to hand them over? Ever herd of mao? How many times have things like that happened in history? Do you truly think it could never happen this day in age? Come on don’t me hypocritical.
One last question, are you going to be there to protect me if I ever get attack? Will you jump in front of a bullet to save me or any other person? Don’t worry by your actions and remarks tonight I already got my answers and by the way I don’t own a gun but it’s a right given by American and people smarter and more class then you.

Dear Larry King Replacement you need to grow up and learn to interact with people, I'm very surprised that CNN allow you to be so rude and umprofessional , sure CNN need to look wath is the audience opinion about you.

Dom, Let Piers speak. If all of you gun slingers out there think you can actually JUSTIFY what happened in Conn, because you feel there is nothing wrong w/citizens owing assault weapons then all of you deserve to be called, "stupid"!!

carol we are not justifing that what when on was a good thing. But think how can you ask to take away everyones right because of a crazy punk? why dont you ban ford cars or mazdas how about hondas when someone gets run over by one? its logic. you are implying that every law abiding citizen is a crazy mad men because he has a legal firearm to protect himself and family from others that have illegal guns? Do you really think by taking everyone guns away the police and government will also prevent criminals who have been doing this for years to take theirs as well?

Dom, I know there will probably never be a total ban on all guns but these semi-automatic assault type weapons do NOT belong in the hands of citizens. They only belong in the hands of the military. And to mention cars is NO comparison regarding bans due to a punk w/ a gun. A cars main purpose is to get you from one place to another. A guns ONLY purpose is to kill.

Max, I am neither related to or obsessed w/Piers–LOL . Tonight was the first night I actually ever watched his show! It was just sooo refreshing to watch someone speak their mind without just sitting there like a puppet.

Piers,
Your behavior tonight was appalling. As soon as a guest does not share your same view or opinion, you get angry and start spitting and hurling insults. You should be ashamed of yourself.

As for your stance on guns in America, I politely disagree. If I, and other law-abiding citizens like me, were to turn in our guns, where would that leave things? Oh right, the law-breaking criminals would still have them. Because they do not follow the rules or care about breaking the law. BECAUSE THEY ARE CRIMINALS! I have the legal right and exercise the right to own and carry a gun (with my legally obtained concealed carry permit) when I feel I need to. I do not take it into schools, post offices, court houses or other places where they are banned. Because those are the RULES! Criminals do not care about laws or rules so please stop thinking if you take our guns away you will solve the problem. Do you think the criminals who own unregistered guns would turn them in? Please do not let your emotional response cloud your common sense.

I weep for the families, for those children. I am a mom of school age girls and I grieve right alongside everyone else. Please do not make me out to be a monster who could care less about those children and their tragic end because I choose to own and carry a gun.

Piers' behavior was NOT appalling. This has been a very emotional week for everyone as it should be and the passion he showed for what he believed was appropriate. The number of gun deaths in this nation and the frequency of gun violence in such an advanced nation as ours is what's APPALLING!! Wake up justamom. I am a mom too and I am proud to say I don't and never will carry a gun.

Justamom~ Of course I know it's my right to own or not own a gun. I just believe if you put more guns in more peoples hands there will be more deaths. Even in the hands of the responsible with no malicious intent–there will be more accidental tragedies. I listened to the Supt. of the Chicago Police speak(he is formally from NY) Garry McCarthy–He was very well spoken and thinks it is wrong and ridiculous to keep these type of weapons legal. He also does not believe in conceal-carry for the same reasons I mentoned–too many accidents or people over-reacting and shooting.

Carol, concealed-carry people are statistically the most law-abiding people there are. EVERY time a state thinks about passing a concealed-carry or open-carry bill, the crazy ignorant people scared of inanimate objects say how there will be blood in the streets and how everyone will have shootouts for parking spaces. And EVERY time they are WRONG.

I think they know they're wrong, and they just don't care. They'll use any tragedy they can to push their anti-gun agenda even if they have no facts or common sense to back it up.

Wesseid~ don't agree, never will...again..numbers don't lie–look at the gun related deaths in this country and tell me adding more guns in the hands of untrained and possibly immature or hot-tempered ppl is right–IT'S WRONG!!! Our Supt. of police here in Chicago(formally of NYC) Garry McCarthy thinks your type of logic is insane!! Even if these "law-abiding" citizens you speak of ARE law-abiding, there will still be too many wrongful, accidental and itchy trigger fingers out there!!

The U.S. has more guns than ever, more people are carrying in public than ever in recent history, and crime has gone down. ...unlike Piers Morgan's beloved UK where the crime rate is more than FOUR TIMES higher than the U.S.

The UK had low gun deaths even before they passed more gun laws. Thus, the extra laws didn't actually do anything. And, yes, the UK does have a more than FOUR TIMES higher violent crime rate than the U.S.

Put that fact on your show, Piers! Let's see a show about why there is so much violent crime in the UK after passing more gun laws! Come on, man up and do it.

I don’t recall wessaid calling you names. You call him a NRA troll because his views don’t match yours? I posted Wikipedia as a source for the Ft Hood shooting, you posted your source as the National Memo, a very biased source. Why is it that when ignorant people can no longer debate on an intelligent level they revert to name calling? I am assuming that you know the answer to this you seem very ignorant.

What does it take to get through to people like you and wessaid? NOBODY's TRYING TO TAKE YOUR GUNS AWAY, JUST GUNS LIKE THE ONE USED BY THE DERANGED KILLER!!!!!!!!! If it has to take to call names to GET YOUR ATTENTION HERE, so be it!

I agree 100% with justamom. The criminals have an unknown number of weapons. The government would only remove guns from law abiding citizens and not the criminals. @ Carol, I don't don't see the logic behind your comment. Lanza's mother was an irresponsible gun owner. As a mother of 3 and a gun owner, I would never train a mentality unstable child on how to use a gun. My guns are locked up and in a safe in my home. Only my husband and I have the combination to the safe and it is not written anywhere for the kids to find.
My heart grieves and breaks for the lives lost on Friday. Evil people with ill intent will find a way to commit these evil acts. I don't have all the answers but punishing law abiding citizens for the act of this criminal is not the answer. Most criminals get their guns illegally maybe we should focus on keeping illegal weapons off the streets and not from the hands of responsible law abiding citizens.

to all of those who are against guns or do not own one i pray for you that the day never comes when you wish you did like i said i was robbed in my own home a few years ago and wish i had some form of protection at the time just luckily they chose not to use theirs

Dear Piers: I was so proud of you tonight standing up to that idiot Pratt. He is talking out his ass, I was especially interested when he said " that nothing will happen regarding gun control". He was basically saying he had the power to stop gun control. They should put a stop to buying guns on the computer, and have a waiting list when buying a gun so that they can do a mental health check and make them take lessons. They have to take lessons to get a drivers licence, it should be the same with guns. They should have a total ban on all those large assault rifles, the only reason they are there are to kill people, it has to stop. Don't listen to the crap above, as one Irish person to another I was proud of you for standing up to him. Take care and keep up the good work.
Dorothy

hey Dot have you ever read world history? are you educated enought to know why citizens need to be arm from government and criminals?

Ever herd of Nato and the UN? swing over to there websites and check what they are doing? then come back and lets have a real chat why guns are needed please on your way back go read what happend to germany after they where made to hand in there weapons by the hitler. sounds so far out i know but those that dont watch reality tv 24/7 are well aware whats going on.

I thought the purpose of an interview was to ferret out the perspectives of the subject being interviewed, not to act as a platform for the host to crow his own opinions and hurl down insults at those who disagree with him. I was going to say that this was more like the Jerry Springer show than a proper interview, but then even Springer would let his guests speak their piece (if for nothing else but to give them the rope to hang themselves with). Morgan displayed a lack of journalistic integrity here that should have been well-known to any 1st year Journalism student.

You blew it Mr Morgan. What could have been part of a reasoned debate turned into a histrionic session of name calling, insults, and bullying. Yes, there is a different mood now after Newtown, and maybe a tipping point that will lead to some more gun control legislation, but it is not your role to bludgeon it out of pro-gun advocates. It is a tremendously complicated problem. We are all shocked and sad, but anger will not solve this problem, only reason and determination. Unfortunately, I think your guest carried himself with more poise, and subsequently expressed his points clearly. (I know nothing of Mr Pratt) I even agreed with him on some points, although I do not support his agenda. You on the other hand, failed to make a point, other than to express emotionally what you thought of him and his like. There will probably be many Americans who feel the way you do, and were cheering you on. There were probably also many who would see themselves as the person who would have defended those children with a gun that day, given a chance. For myself, I wanted to hear your guest's best arguments, and try to determine if they had any merit, but sadly you could not deconstruct or refute his argument, you didn't even try. Instead I cringed through your insults and tried to hear what the guest had to say. Your frustration during the interview may even arise from the fact that his argument (guns for defense in the school) might have practical merit considering history, and may just some day be part of a solution that will have many facets, including fewer guns elsewhere. Before this interview (as a Canadian who leans in favour of gun control) I hoped to hear why Mr Pratt was perhaps wrong, or if he had a valid point or two to make.. I came away from it with the renewed sense that this complicated problem cannot be solved by angry outraged people who just hate guns and everything they stand for, and feel a need to demonize gun rights activists as if they were the ones that shot those children. That will only serve to entrench positions. Mr Morgan, if your goal was to rile people up, you succeeded, but I suggest that your role was to encourage intelligent debate, and in that, you failed.

Can someone be real about the phony﻿ religion that these people exploit & hide behind, when in fact clinging to guns is a life of "idol worship" & a lack of faith? Fear motivates people to buy guns, and as the Bible states, "faith & fear cannot coexist". Violence begets violence. You cheapen your faith when you use guns as an excuse to validate your ego & fear. God doesn't reside in fear. Suck on that, NRA... Your conscience is not immune by a long shot.

Aside from whichever approach you take on the gun discussion, Piers Morgan was a juvenile "journalist" in this interview. Shame on CNN. If I want Springer journalism I know where to find it. You forced Eliot Spitzer on us and you continue to degrade your programming with trash like this.

Thank you so much, Piers! Thank you for speaking up for us! Yes, they are just idiots, these gun freaks like Larry Pratt! I am wondering why don't they just got killed or just kill themselves with those guns they are crazy for?! I never hate anyone, but I am learning to hate these people who don't even have a little bit human decency and moral after seeing all these babies were killed with their guns! Thank you for telling them how big IDIOTS they are! I just don't know how to thank you enough for doing so. Thank you for those beautiful kids died in vain!

Morgan you do not have room to talk about crime in Britan, look from were are you from .....soccer fans that bring destruction and death when they go at soccer games, in their country and other countries, they are the shame of EUROPE.Please go back to your GB I assure you no body stop you, it is were you belong, I'm sure there are many people ready to buy you a plane ticket ,just ask, PLEASE GO !!!

Even if Lanza's mother had her 6 guns in a safe (which all the gun owners in my family have)–her son would like have been able to discern how to access it. She didn't need to own those assault weapons.

Just saw the repeat of the Pratt interview. I am not unaware that bringing on this extremist with his ridiculous views was a ploy to provide a platform for gun control. I say, go to it!!! I am politically conservative person and am generally rather skeptical of the "liberal media" but I am now all about gun control. Well done, Mr. Morgan in revealing the fallacy in "if everyone had a gun it would make us more safe". Just insane. The 2nd Amendment was never intended to give anyone a right to own semi-automatic weapons with huge clips of ammo. Hello...are you gun owners part of some "militia" that I am unaware of? Assault weapons need to be banned. Period. No reason for anyone outside law enforcement/military to own them. I hope that this tragedy will mobilize everyday Americans like me to wake up and see what is going on in this country and demand gun control. Yes, this was my tipping point. I also love the nice little twist that CNN had a report on the boom in gun sales last weekend, especially in the exact type of weapons used in these mass murders, in the show preceding Piers Morgan. Well orchestrated CNN powers-that-be.

What insanity !!! And I DO NOT mean what happened in Sandy Hook (although it was there too) but what I refer to is why the public in this country even allows a schill like Piers Morgan to hold court on the airwaves. What an abuse suffered by the public citizens of this country. Hell, he was put here to advance the gun control efforts to disarm the free people in this country. I remember his words having to do with the Trayvon case in Florida-'how could people be allowed to walk around, protecting neighbors or not, with a gun." Yeah–Piers you are English–A SUBJECT. we are intended to be free and yours and others efforts to disarm America will submit ALL our children as well as our women and ourselves to the ax, knife, gun, hammer, stone, or brute force of ANY attacker. AND FURTHER, guns are not about hunting-first and foremost they are for protecting us against the government and the crown. More important now than ever.
THE PUBLIC CANNOT POSSIBLY HAVE ANY RESPECT FOR SUCH A SCHILL AS MORGAN–OUR ENEMY!!

Mr. Morgan; please compare the crime rate in your home country and the United States of America. Much, much worse. Why do you think that is? I am deeply saddened by the deaths in Connecticut but lets put the blame where it belongs and that is on the individual. Lets hold blame the individual and not the tool. The guns used in this sad event were the tools of a sick mind. Your "restrictions" on my rights as an American citizens are unwarranted. You may pass all the gun laws you want but that is not going to stop people from dying. The number of rounds a weapon fires is inconsequential. The question is how long to respond to the gunman's actions. Had one of the teachers or administrators been carrying a concealed weapon, A LOT LESS WOULD HAVE DIED!

If you like a nation without guns, go back to Great Britain, please. By the way, why do you think your fellow countryman, Lain Harrison, became an American citizen? You guessed it, he could actually own guns here!

These outrages will only stop when America decides to love its children more than its guns. There is no sensible reason to sell .223 military style weapons to the public. You want to defend your home, get a pitbull. You want to defend your home with a weapon, get a shotgun. .223 AR-15 style weapons are the rifle of choice of disaffected young men with video game fantasies. The .223 cartridge is a weapon of war. Montreal, Port Arthur, and other multiple mass attacks all with .223 rifles This is no coincidence.

"At Columbine, they used 9mm and shotguns. The Virginia Tech shooter used a little .22. Your theory is flawed. Really? Read it again; ".223 AR-15 style weapons are the rifle of choice of disaffected young men with video game fantasies." 9mm and shotguns are not .223 rifles". I wonder if you support arming all the passengers on aircraft in case in gets hijacked? Just curious. This was suggested by Archie Bunker on All in the Family in 1973.

Dershowitz: "If they want to be originalists then they should carry muskets! Hahaha herp derp."

According that logic we should also restrict the media's use of the First Amendment to quill pens and moveable type hand-cranked printing presses since that was the best technology when the First Amendment was written. CNN, kiss your cable news network goodbye and mind your P's & Q's with your typeset. Mr. Dershowitz, please close any and all email accounts you hold and start writing letters.

If you allow arbitrary limits to be placed upon certain parts of the Bill of Rights using 18th century technology as a litmus test, then you might as well allow arbitrary limits to be placed upon them all. Allowing others to pick and choose which rights you are allowed to exercise and when you are allowed to exercise them is the same as having no rights at all. It's amazing to me that the BoR codifies and protects individual liberties in all of its amendments.... except the Second, which is only a 'collective right' you say? Amazing.

The founders intended for the citizenry to own standard military arms.
Muskets like the colonists used WERE the 'assault rifle' of their time; the AR-15 is the standard musket of our time.

Like it or not, the rifle is the ancestral weapon of the American people.

So you would rather see tiny children with their bodies split open, their brains and organs spilled on a floor; than give up the "right" to own a specific weapon that is the choice of the insane? Perhaps the photos of that horrific scene should be published so idiots can see the actual effect of their "right". BTW I am a gun owner and life long shooter.

It seems that every moron, redneck, gun owner, in US who believes in guns should be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight the wars. They will have lots of action. Please ban ALL guns in USA and make it a civilized country like rest of the world. Why are you only talking about semi-automatic and assault rifles only? All guns should be banned. For Larry Pratt – I don't know how he can look at himself in the mirror every day. He is the EVIL himself. He should be publicly executed by stoning and not by bullets!!

you can ban whatever you want, but who wants to get a rifle , he'll get a rifle. War on guns would end up just like war on drugs: a complete failure. No ban would have stopped Lanza, HE had to be stopped.

Wow, I never thought I'd say this, but I actually agree with Larry Pratt. As I was listening, a light bulb when off in my head. Here's the thing...

Unless Piers has a way to magically make 300 million guns disappear, then defending our children with guns is the only sensible solution. Anyway, let's say Piers gets his way and somehow, as if by magic, all assault weapons are confiscated/disappear – is he okay with the murder of children as long as it's carried out by a non-semi-automatic rifle?

Piers, and those who think like him, act as if assault weapons are the only types of weapons that can kill. This would have been an equally tragic event if the shooter used another type of weapon – the fact remains that the school was a gun free zone, and he would have been the only person in the school with a gun...

And why do we publicize that schools are "gun free zones". Would anyone in their right mind display a yard sign outside their home with the words "THIS IS A GUN FREE HOME"? Of course not – that would be just invite criminals.

We defend everything else that's worth defending with guns – those who drive armored vehicles transporting money are armed, high profile celebrities/politicians have armed guards... why shouldn't our children be protected by people who are armed?

Again, the government will never be able to get guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals – there are 300 million of them already out there, including assault weapons. Heck, the government can't even keep drugs out of prisons. A war on guns will have the same results as "the war on drugs".

But maybe you don't trust teachers? Maybe you think they're too irresponsible to carry guns. I don't know about you, but I trust teachers.

I Do Not understand why people think that they should own an assualt weapon which only use is for combat. My family and extended family hunt and no one ownes this type of weapon, in our state it is illegal to hunt with them.
As for having a gun for protection I can understand why someone would want one but there does need to be some type of gun control.
My brother in law is in law enforcement and he doesn't even reccomend it. The statistics show that more people are killed with them from accidents or murder than actual protection.
As for so many peoples negitive comments I can't help but think would you feel the same if your loved one was killed by someone using a weapon to commit mass murder. All I can think of is the terror in these percious childrens faces when they were being murdered.

Read up on what the main purpose of the 2nd Amendment is and then come back. (hint: it's not hunting.) Tell your law enforcement brother-in-law to read up on the main purpose of the 2nd Amendment too.

And you are absolutely wrong on guns not being used for protection. It's hard to quantify because often the mere presence of a holstered gun is enough to deter crime, but, either way, it's estimated guns are used to stop crime MILLIONS of times a year.

Believe me I know all about every Admendment probably more than you but that is not what matters.
And I did not say no one should not have the right to own a gun for protection if you read what my comment was. Nor did my brother in law. So if you are going to comment on something I said get your facts straight. I said he wouldn't recommend it, didn't say he said you shouldn't have the right.
And I'm sorry but the statistics are that more people are killed from guns in this country that was not used for protection. And having a holstered gun does not deter a numerous amount of crimes. I happen to be with one of these agencies that would know.

You're wrong. It's estimated guns are used to stop crime MILLIONS of times every year. Even if you want to dispute that number, the number would still be far higher than the very low in comparison number of gun deaths.

Sorry to say I probably have more credentials and knowledge about this issue than you will ever have. Lets see do you have a degree in any form that would oh lets see enable you to be a professor, speak in congress, meet with death row inmates ALL over the world (I just recently got back from Ireland) and publish prize winning novels on these subjects. I doubt it.
Listen, people have the right to protect themselves, and I have a shot gun in a locked case, but assualt weapons people do not need to have in their possession.
So I'm sorry you need to really learn more facts before you say things that ARE proven (and not by me) to be true.

Wow, I never thought I'd say this, but I actually agree with Larry Pratt. Aside from Piers coming off terribly, as I was listening, a light bulb when off in my head. Here's the thing...

Unless Piers has a way to magically make 300 million guns disappear, then defending our children with guns is the only sensible solution. Anyway, let's say Piers gets his way and somehow, as if by magic, all assault weapons are confiscated/disappear – is he okay with the murder of children as long as it's carried out by a non-semi-automatic rifle?

Piers, and those who think like him, act as if assault weapons are the only types of weapons that can kill. This would have been an equally tragic event if the shooter used another type of weapon – the fact remains that the school was a gun free zone, and he would have been the only person in the school with a gun...

And why do we publicize that schools are "gun free zones". Would anyone in their right mind display a yard sign outside their home with the words "THIS IS A GUN FREE HOME"? Of course not – that would be just invite criminals.

We defend everything else that's worth defending with guns – those who drive armored vehicles transporting money are armed, high profile celebrities/politicians have armed guards... why shouldn't our children be protected by people who are armed?

Again, the government will never be able to get guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals – there are 300 million of them already out there, including assault weapons. Heck, the government can't even keep drugs out of prisons. A war on guns will have the same results as "the war on drugs".

But maybe you don't trust teachers? Maybe you think they're too irresponsible to carry guns. I don't know about you, but I trust teachers.

So, let me get this straight. You invite an advocate for packing guns on your show, a position obviously opposed to yours, and then you proceed to insult and demean him, because he obviously doesn't believe what you believe on the issue, then you have the audacity to say to the gentleman, "you're an unbelieveably stupid man aren't you?" and call him an idiot? Really?

What a display! Don't get me wrong. I think the guy is out of his mind. But does that give you the right to invite him on your program, ask him questions and try to talk over him, because you're mad (who are you by the way?) and then call him an idiot. Yeah, you young ones, that's how we adult communicate. That's the way to do it.

Hey, a bit of advice. Don't invite people on your program who you don't agree with. You tend to resort to belligerence. If you can't maintain a persons dignity, don't have them on your show. K?

Okay so he said that all these shootings happens in a gun-free zone. Right. So what would be the solution then????? Get rid of all the gun free zones and literally make the whole f-cking country a battlefield??? HELL NO. The solution at this point is just to ban guns for civilians. Sure it will not 100% prevent another tragedy BUT IT WILL HELP DECREASE THE CHANCES OF IT HAPPENING. This solution is far more rational than giving away guns to everyone like giving away doughnuts. Look, Lanza had NO criminal record. He was just a deranged civilian. He managed to commit the atrocity simply because the guns were too freely available to him. It's just too easy, way too EASY for a psychopath to get access to guns in America. THEY NEED TO CUT OFF THE SUPPLIES.

Also, these type of shootings are all PLANNED OUT by the perpetrator. Even if the teachers are armed, do you think Lanza is going to yell out an announcement saying "Everyone get your guns out ready, I'm going to start a massacre so get ready to shoot back at me!". HELL NO. He will take the initiative like eliminating the armed teachers first or making sure they can't use the guns to shoot back at him. Remember, this is highly possible because in this situation the KILLER has the advantage. Nobody can read his mind and know he's going to be committing atrocity. So again, the solution at this point is to CUT OFF THE SUPPLIES of the psychopaths.

Thanks, SCRATCH!!!..........I agree! I'm from Canada and I was shocked tonight at the way Mr. Morgan attacked his guest, Mr. Pratt, but, thankfully, Mr Pratt ended the debate with more dignity than Mr Morgan. In the past, I really never understood why U.S. residents felt they had to possess guns, of any type, but, in the last year, I've definitely reversed my thinking. We all should be able to defend ourselves and our families against any person, evil or sick, who intends to infllict harm on us. If Dawn had been armed that day, all those children would be alive now. What more can I say!!

I have to wonder whether anyone who is so anti-gun has ever had one pointed at their face.

I have. Let me tell you, it's not a pleasant experience, but it wasn't fear that grabbed me in the moment, it was anger. Anger that some idiot believed he could threaten my life for any reason at all.

All being armed does is level the playing field. If you are unarmed and someone pulls a weapon on you, you are at their mercy. You have no recourse but to obey their commands and hope they don't kill you.

There seems to be some ridiculous misconception that people who are responsible, legal gun owners have some fantasy about playing cowboy and having a shootout. This is a joke. I don't want to shoot anyone but, if it comes down to them or me, I can guarantee you it will be them.

All banning guns does is ensure that the only people who have them are criminals who don't care about the laws anyway and potential tyrants.

Piers , You acted totally unprofessional by speaking over your guest constantly and resorting to personnel attacks on Larry . Having an adult discussion is what it is and should be, not trying to verbally overtake someone you disagree with to silence them , why have them on the show if your going to talk down to them.Your too highly emotional and behaving poorly . Try to be more tolerant of people with different views .

Americans have the right to keep and bear arms. This is a given right that will not be taken away.
Much like saying our freedom of speech should be appealed.
There are millions of assault rifles with 30 round magazines already in public circulation. We have already had a Federal Ban on "Assault Rifles" for a ten year period. It did absolutely nothing to prevent criminals and murders from committing crimes against innocent citizens.

How about some proposal's that will actually work? Such as
Responsible parenting
Help for the mentally ill at first sign of issues.
Beefing up our schools and other problem area's with trained personal. Teachers/security guards/ police should all be up for discussion.

This is a great read
http://www.policeone.com/active-shooter/articles/2058168-Lt-Col-Dave-Grossman-to-cops-The-enemy-is-denial/
Please read it and then respond to my post. Priorities are completely misplaced

Yes I agree ! What I find revealing is that it is known schools will always be targeted yet the govnt does not put any security in (I could be wrong though) at least armed guards . Yet Brinks guards have guns to protect money ? .Totally inconsistent .

Evil Lunatics like Pratt has to be met with fierce resistance. Thumbs up Mr. Morgan. You showed the intelligent part of USA what an evil snake he is. The unintelligent part of USA are brainwashed zombies. No need to even speak to those lunatics!

I'm really surprised Dear CNN you guys fired Rick Sanchez for a innocent reply that was classified from you guys offensive , and let a person like Piers Morgan a tipical brithish snob individual to offend a name call still on your payroll ? That is not right, and unfair !!!!

Here is something interesting that has been underreported. Apparently, the shooter in Portland was confronted by a civilian with a legally concealed firearm. After the bad guy saw the guy trying to line him up in his sights, he retreated and shot himself. This should be reported more. This guy is really a hero:
http://www.kgw.com/news/Clackamas-man-armed-confronts-mall-shooter-183593571.html

I agree Mark.
Any google search will show that there are many stories across the country everyday where legal citizen saved lives by carrying a weapon. Not in the interest of the media to report these facts. Kinda confused why.

Seeing some of these post here. I would not be surprised if some believe Nick Meli should be arrested. Even though he had a permit he was packing in a "Gun Free Zone". Jacob Roberts the shooter would surely agree! He thought he was the only one there with a gun. Perfect example why these Gun Free Zones are flawed. It is crazy a legal citizen is bared from protecting themselves and family at these places.

Piers' rant tonight was absolutely amazing, and it perfectly captured the essence of what is happening in this country. Piers argued emotionally, absent any sort of logic, rationality, or fact. His premise was that of a spoiled child indignant that mummy was having none of his foolishness, when confronted with fact after fact as to why his arguments where hollow, without substance, illogical, and irrelevant.

This emotion based approach to very serious issues is unfortunately exemplified by a substantial amount of the left–and that approach is how they want to govern. Facts don't matter. Logic does not matter. Reason does not matter. If you disagree with such folks, well, as Piers so childishly put it, "you're an idiot".

Pratt was civil, made good points that Piers was incapable of grasping, let alone factually refute, and Piers bullied and insulted him. At one point Piers said he was "dangerous"

I got news for you Piers–you and people like you are dangerous–letting idiots like you rule the day is a threat to our democracy. I am gratified to see so many on this blog standing up to the ignorance that is Piers Morgan

CNN? What happened to you? I have watched since your inception–you've gone from an upstanding news organization to a puppet of the left. I am sick and tired of the unbelievably left political views of your anchors–Piers, Soledad, Anderson Cooper –not one of them is capable of unbiased debate or anything evenly remotely resembling a fair and balance reporting piece.

Mr. Piers Morgan, Sir, Congratulations – I saw your report & interview with the Executive Director of Gun Owners of America Mr.Larry Pratt – I thought you were bang right on the target. Your command on this subject left Mr.Pratt in unchartered waters,He was stumped, You were brutal with him : & you showed no mercy & that is exactly what is required with GUN Control in USA : The youth in America have gone crazy with Guns – there are drive-by's , random shootings , merciless killings , contracts are taken out, This has to end or should come in preview of a new law.

They say If you keep a Gun at home :someday you will shoot your loved one.

My Father-in-Law kept one .32 Smith at home – gave it up after his son stole it & held-up a store – flashed it at the street walkers etc... luckily no one was injured.

Do you people know what a assault rife is? A full auto machine gun. The 223 round is small compared to almost all big game hunting rifles.its a 22 caliber bullet. most hunting rifles are 30 cal and more powerful. A shotgun 12 gauge is 5x as powerful at the range he used in the shooting. All the people saying "clip"? Its a magazine. half of you people including you piers dont know enough to judge anything. The rifle looks like a military weapon. Its no better or worse than any rifle. It looks evil so it must be bad? get your facts straight. Im not against background checks or smaller magazine sizes .Im a realist. But banning the gun will not help. A person wanting to kill wont care about not having the black rifle. he will use something else.So you dont want to ban hunting rifle ? The gun that kid used is the most popular hunting rifle in the country period. I am willing to go with anything that will stop a crime! but not some half ass attempt to put a band aid on a problem that has more to do with mental health and media coverage making copycats!All these people dont know anything about weapons and are to ignorant to learn before passing judgement. Or they just want to ban everything and be the protectionist who believe in Govt control over their own rights is the answer? It makes me sick.....!

To all of you idiots writing comments in support of Pratt: This guy is a white supremacist lunatic. He spoke at gun rallies organized by KKK members and other racist jerk-offs, and you're DEFENDING him? So one can come to 2 general conclusions. First, you obviously favour Pratt's stupid idea of making so-called "gun-free" zones "safe" by armoring everybody in it-like a school-with guns. What happens when two of these armed defenders get into a heated argument and one pulls out his gun and screams "take that back!" because the other guy said something about his wife and/or mother? And Second, you're white supremacists yourselves, since you obviously look up to a man with known ties to these and other hate groups. And to those who commented on how rude Mr. Morgan was to Pratt: get off your high horse, because that's the only kind of language fools like him understand. Anyone who would laugh when confronted with a serious issue like this-instead of becoming indignant at being "cut off" in an interview, has no credibility whatsoever. As for the "name-calling", Piers was just stating the truth about Pratt: he is a blithering idiot, and if you ate something besides servings of your brains for breakfast once in a while, you MIGHT realize that. Finally, to any Canadians who posted in support of Lawrence Pratt's gun solution: You're a disgrace to Canada, and you would probably love it if our government adopted such measures. But it ain't gonna happen here-thank God!

I agree w/ draveon52 –people like you are dangerous–look at how you insult–and I note, you don't argue logically, based on facts–you argue emotionally, like a spoiled child. The background of the interviewee is, essentially irrelevant to the points he made–facts by the way–and Pier's absolute lack of fact-based rebuttal–all Piers could muster was insults, much like the level of reason you apparently are capable of.

Just look at your rant–i am not a white supremacist, never heard of this guy Pratt–yet you assume because I know the facts, and know Pratt was correct in the facts he cited–like US has higher murder rate than GB–but GB has higher overall violent crime rate–you assume because I and others agree with the facts, we are white supremacists–think about it–you can't argue logically, based on facts, so you just insult.

The scary part is there's an awful lot of people like you trying to govern now–rule by emotion. Forget about logic, reason, or facts. Delightful

Seriously, this Pratt guy was right about his facts. Piers made a fool of himself and CNN. Hard to believe they would not fire him over this. Resorting to name calling because he can not debate with fact made him loose all credibility in this issue.
Kinda funny a Brit would be so fast to support taking away our 2 amendment rights.

Piers,
That was the best interview I have ever seen. I am now a Piers Morgan fan. Thank-You for your passion. Don't ever change. I am proud to have you in the U.S.. We could use a lot more people like you !!! The one question these gun idiots can't answer is Why do you need an Assault weapon. Don't waste your time asking if it's illegal ? They don't care. The idea that these morons can't recognize the significance of 36 people a year dying from guns in England vs 12,000 here is shocking. Thank-You

Piers did an excellent job last night standing up to that gun toting smirking idiot. The solution to our gun problem is not getting more guns out there! And it most certainly is not putting guns in classrooms. Piers, you simply voiced what we all think, thank you!

Ok Ava,
A trained armed personal in the schools to protect the children is unacceptable to you, huh?
Do you have kids? How do you propose we protect them? Your plan is to quit selling guns and the kids will be safe?
I hope you can reply with meaningful proposal that will actually work. The Assault Rifle ban was in effect for 10 yrs and kids were still murdered in schools at that time. Maybe Peirs was not in the country at this time so he has no idea we tried that and it did absolutely nothing to fix this issue in even the smallest way.
Waiting for your reply.

Just what we need, a British journalist telling us what we need to do on gun control. Why don't you go back and try to straighten out your own country. Oh I forgot, you will soon be a minority, most of you will soon be muslims.
Before you jump on the assault gun bandwagon, Nidal Hassan used pistols in his death march at Ft. Hood. While we are on that subject. Drag him in the shower and shave him.
You are one reason I never watch CNN. Please, go home.

I really find it offensive, the more I think about it, that some British journalist is telling us how to run our lives.
CNN, surely you can do better. Larry, you still out there?? At least you were entertaining and an American.

Piers Morgan clearly crossed the journalistic boundaries in this interview. As divisive as the gun control issue could be, and how tragic Newtown is, this behaviour was totally unethical and lacked objectivity; Mr Morgan should be reprimanded by CNN executives. Disrespect for your guest (regardless if you personally agree with him or not), constant interruptions, name-calling and tantrums will get us nowhere in what CNN is misrepresenting as dialogue. CNN stooped to new lows last night and is now fully on par with Fox.

Mr Morgan
I to am appalled at your comments as soon as someone disagrees with your views.I tried to have an open mind about your views and the banning of assault weapons.
Do you really think that banning assault weapons is going to stop the criminal element from seeking other means to find a weapon and harm an innocent person.

Yes this is tragic to what happened to to the children of CT.
Lets say that we ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines .
Now let say that a deranged person takes a 6 shot 357 revolver with speed loaders , lets say he has ten speed loaders that would be sixty shots . This gun can be fired quickly and reloaded in about six seconds , are we going to ban this also.
My understanding was that Lanza had a shotgun in the car with multiple rounds .Do you not think that this is just as deadly. I would say that weapon loaded would be just as deadly as an assault rifle, I would also say it is just as accurate and one shot could take out three people in close proximity nowhere Lanza fired and hit each victim with multiple shots.
I am a NRA member , I believe in the 2nd amendment, I am a responsible person in society, I should right without liberals such as yourself trying to tell me that I should not be able to properly as I see fit to protect my family, or other persons from being harmed.
Do you really think a criminal is going to abide by a ban on weapons.?
I is true that you can go to a store and buy any type weapon legally.
There is always room for improving a system to obtain firearms.
I don't have all of answers , but there should be more things that could be done to hinder a person who does not need a firearm , such as a criminal or mentally ill person.
A criminal is a criminal they will not and never will abide by any laws.
They will get a weapon one way or the other.

Mr Morgan you are just plain stupid in your interviews with persons you have on your forums, you are a very unprofessional in the way you try and demean others who have the right to freedom of their speech ,and I have seen you impede their rights on CNN
You are the bottom of the barrel as a journalist.

Totally agree. Instead of blaming guns we need to take action.
Armed personal at every school
Swift mental help and commitment if needed to protect lawful citizens against monsters
Education about spotting these warning signs
Severe punishment for parents or others enabling these monsters. If the facts are true this mother should not have been teaching her son to shoot guns, buying him violent video games and making his room into a shrine of murder/violence.

Piers Morgan is the man. That Confederate gun lover was a dangerous and stupid man representing all the other ignorant, paranoid gun lovers of America. Piers probably drives a McLaren while that Pratt dummy drives a Cadillac.

Piers. On behalf of everyone I personally thank you for calling Pratt a stupid man. You were too kind. But I know you're on the air. I'm not defending the shooter in any way, but Pratt is an even more dangerous man to children and families everywhere in America.

Hey, Jeff Sugg you sound just like a typical brain dead merican. Freedom of speech only means one will not go to jail for speech. You are not free of ridicule and demeaning language if you say something stupid. The stupider the comments, the more likely you're gonna get beat-up. Stick your freedom of speech in your ear before the Chinese do it for you in the not too distant future.

So it is time to start boycotting CNN until they remove this man from their network. These guns were legally purchased by a woman who enjoyed the activity of target shooting. Yes there was an issue with her son, but if he got a baseball bat and started beating people to death with that would we be calling for bat control? Many more people are killed by drunk drivers every year, but I don't see anyone calling for making alcohol illegal or banning cars. This was a tragedy but I am so tired of the knee jerk reaction of all the attention seeking celebrities and politicians now jumping on the gun control issue. Anyone who calls somebody stupid after asking them for their opinion does not deserve to be on television. He is disrespectful to his guests, people who do not share his opinion, and in general to America. Take him off the air CNN and some of us will be back. Meantime don't support the network or its advertisers.

How unfortunate that our friends the Brits are represented by such a rude, boorish oaf such as Morgan. A true shame, my sons and I travel to the Sheffield, England area often to visit friends and let me assure my dear friends on this thread that Morgan does not represent the the vast majority of the sensitive and cultured Brits that we know and love. Most Brits are cordial, light-hearted and pleasant to engage in intelligent conversation. From what I gather most Brits are happy to be rid of this fool, I think that he is here to stay as he seems to have tapped into the psyche of the more simple examples of our American society. Adolf Hitler sent his brown shirts to confiscate weapons from the Hebrews in the mid-1930's while simpletons such as Morgan cheered them on. I am surprised that 'class-warfare' has been cleverly tied to 'gun-prohibition'. This is the same evil genius that came from Berlin over 90 years ago!

Wow mr Morgan... you are a hero in this all. Yes tell them how stupid they are! Stop this gun addiction. Stop the possitivity around guns! Again let Discovery channel and National Geographic stop making programs where they show off with guns. Let magazines stop commercializing ...
Let guns only be for the people that really needs them the military to protect the country. Let guns be for the people that has to go to rough areas to protect them selves from atacks of wildlife. If needed do have a small one to project your house but better do not have one at all in the house! Let there be a restriction on how many guns and lock them up in the shooter schools if you have to many.
Again stop the addiction! as alcohol as in drugs. All Kills people and horrible enough Childeren!

Piers, I understand you have a strong personal opinion on gun control in America but you showed a serious lack of professionalism by calling your guest (Pratt), "stupid" & "idiot" on the air. No matter the topic, as host you should agrue intelligently, ask questions, be the example of the behavior you want to have on your show and conduct yourself like a gentleman... with proper manners and class. You may disagree with Pratt, but you owe him a public apology.

Mr. Morgan, as a USMC vietnam veteran I can remember what guns are all about. I have 4 of my own that have been packed and locked up in storage for well over 20 years. I defend the right of others to own guns but do not see great use of a semi-automatic weapon of any type. For the USA to make changes it will not be done by attacking those who believe strongly in the ownershiP group but rather by offer solutions to the other 60% of the country. The more you attack the more people want to protect the right against an overbearing government. I do have one idea. Maybe we should attach personal and family liability for the ownership of guns that requires high liability insurance in the event the guns are used inappropriately. We cannot drive a 6000lb car with out insurance so maybe attaching isurance probabilities and prices to the guns would help to limit some of the desire to own guns. Buy a semi-automatic weapon and the insurance cost before it is approved would be $X but if you buy a single shot the insurance is 100 times less. This will not eliminate the crazy people but it will make it costly to own a in the first place and especially the wrong type of gun. The insurance liability must also include the situation if gun is stolen and used to hurt or kill others, Just a thought. We know that money rules most decisions.

Piers, Thank you for taking the stand that needs to be taken on this topic. Emotions should be high on this topic, because high emotions is what causes people who have guns to use them. Not when things are cool, and going your way. I am a gun owner, and so is my hunband and family members as well. We keep them in a safe. Mr. Pratt gives me no reason for doubt that people who have his mind set should be the one who shouldn't own a gun, because his logic and fear is just the kind of person who would use his gun, and possibly kill many innoscent people. Assult weapons should be banned, all of them, And any gun that isn't registared should be taken. No gun shows, nor pawn shops ever should have happened, and all laws need to protect the people, not the NRA, nor gun manufacturers. I applaud you for standing up, and calling that man an idiot. He's a REDNECK with a GUN, and he and others like him are dangerous...

piers go home , without guns this nation would not have our independence maybe thats why you feel the way you do. we beat the brits twice to keep our freedom . If CNN keeps Piers Morgan i will start watching Fox news channel

This was the worst and most disappointing "interview" I have ever seen. There was no debating from Mr. Morgan, just insults and immature comments. He never let his guest finish a sentence and was rude and belligerent. It wasn't even entertaining.

What you should be appalled at is the extreme right-wing echo chamber of paranoid agitprop. How did we ever make it to this point where we are calling for armed guards and pistol packing teachers in the first place? The loons on the far right would have us all believe that even the most sensible gun control laws will put us on the path to being a police state. Well, I've got news for you all; we already ARE a police state but it was none of the government's doing. It's us. WE'VE done it to ourselves. Seriously, after this shooting in Connecticut (not to mention previous shootings this year) there's always a run on more and more guns. Does that not at all seem like some twisted, paranoid, circular logic?

"There's been a mass shooting, so we need to get even MORE guns because even MORE guns will keep us safe until... There's been another mass shooting, so we need to get even MORE guns because..."

You get the picture.

Seriously, step outside the faux insular bubble that is the United States and take a look at the rest of the developed world (and not with agitprop addled eyes) and even a few of the developing ones that aren't banana republics.

1) People are not only stocking up on weapons because they feel safer with them, but they are concerned that their government will make gun sales illegal.

2) Prior to this school shooting, the worst shooting in a similar (elementary) school happened in Scotland. Their gun laws were very restrictive at the time. Proof that a sick individual will find a way to kill if they want to. More restrictive laws only remove guns from law-abiding citizens, NOT from the criminals or the mentally ill.

3) This tragedy is NOT the "fault" of the weapon. It is due to the depraved heart and mind of the shooter. You would be further along to pass a law prohibiting depraved thinking. But that would never happen, as it would necessarily eliminate thought in a majority of liberal politicians.

1) People are not only stocking up on weapons because they feel safer with them, but they are concerned that their government will make gun sales illegal.
===================
I guess you are so addled with the paranoid agitprop that the whole thing went right over your head. When we reach the point of needing a gun to feel safe, we're going past police state and straight on to a banana republic. Additionally addled, you have yourself convinced that the "gubment" is going to take make owning guns illegal. You know damn well that's never going to happen.

2) Prior to this school shooting, the worst shooting in a similar (elementary) school happened in Scotland. Their gun laws were very restrictive at the time. Proof that a sick individual will find a way to kill if they want to. More restrictive laws only remove guns from law-abiding citizens, NOT from the criminals or the mentally ill.
==============================
Spin check. Scotland isn't renowned for multiple mass shootings. By your logic though, because they have more restrictive gun control measures and HAVEN'T had another mass shooting, those laws worked. By the by, if they ever DO experience another mass shooting, compare the frequency of theirs to ours.

And as for your spin on more restrictive gun laws removing guns from law-abiding citizens, that's even MORE spin. Actually, what we should do is designate the NRA as a terrorist organization. Assuming you're a law-abiding citizen, the NRA isn't fighting for your rights, they are fighting for the rights of criminals to more easily obtain weapons so the gun manufacturers will keep buttering the NRA's bread. They figure if they keep that back door open to the criminals, they can sell the meme that more criminals own guns so you need to own more. It's actually brilliantly simplistic in its design.

3) This tragedy is NOT the "fault" of the weapon. It is due to the depraved heart and mind of the shooter. You would be further along to pass a law prohibiting depraved thinking.
=============================
Sorry, that faulty logic doesn't pass the smell test. Depraved thinking in and of itself is not dangerous. Depraved thinking with the ability to gain access to devices (devices that are as easy to find as change under a seat cushion, might I add) designed to efficiently deliver death with maximum effect is.

Additionally, you missed the whole part about why we've even reached the point where we think it's necessary to turn schools into armed fortresses. Once you come up with a logical response to that, you might be able to think past whatever inadequacies you feel the need to compensate for.

Finally, I have to ask, have you ever been, or have you ever known anyone, in the military stationed overseas?

This guy wants you to be able to protect yourself against the people who would get guns regardless. Larry laughed because Pierce was being extremely rude and not letting him answer the question he had posed. He went off on some rude tangent. I'm glad you like the show. He must be your cup of tea and you must teach your children that it's okay to call people stupid idiots. Well done.

We indeed do need to have conversation and debate about this issue. As we also need to have on mental health, drugs, and the glorification of violence as a solution to problems. Sadly that is not what I saw from Mr. Morgan. I saw a man lower himself to name calling and bullying when things didn't go his way. This man is NOT a journalist. CNN should be ashamed of itself for allowing such behavior to continue.

Australia has turned in their guns. Piers interview the citizens of Australia and find out how well it's working out for them. Homicides are way up and home invasions are up along with attacks on the elderly. See crimininals don't follow laws. All gun confiscation does is cause innocent law abiding citizens to suffer.

it's harder for me to buy cold medicine than it is for me to buy a machine gun. if you people can't see why that is insane, there's no hope for this country. All of you who love guns so much, I hope it's your child next.

Bob, you have no idea how hard it is or how much it costs to purchase a Class 3 weapon (machine gun). Which can legally be bought and silencers(suppressors) also. If you file the paperwork and pay the taxes, can be legally owned. No mass shootings with those yet.

We are never going to convince GUN loving American's that countries with strong gun laws have less violence. Instead they talk about arming teachers...MORE GUNS.. that's there idea of a solution. I would like to see at a min. extended magazine clips banned THERE IS NO REASON FOR THESE. But keep clinging to your guns America and then wonder why we have so many murders.

You don't need Bin Laden or any other terrorist to blow you up, you will kill yourself long before it happens. Im not American, i'm Polish and we suffered a lot from different kinds of invaders, nazis, commies and hell, we even exported some guys like Kosciuszko or Pulaski to help you fight for your Independence. I understand your need to have a gun is written deeply in your souls since Independence War and Wild West but these days are now over. You're not exposed to wild packs of mounted bandits and invaders any more. Time for ban people! You won't have maniacs like Lanza or others walk into schools with assault rifles. He will try to build a selfmade bomb or get a knife, he will still hurt few people, maybe even kill someone but not with the speed of hundreds of bullets per minute. Wake up!

Your argument is that we have no threat by which we may need to protect ourselves? Are you serious? Maybe you need to go do some research on gun violence. There are TONS of amazing stories of responsible gun owners protecting themselves in home invasions, attacks, and even public robberies. There was just an incident a few months ago where an elderly man chased out a bunch of bank robbers with his own weapon. If you take away gun rights the only people left will be the criminals. If you think the world is just perfectly peachy after the "wild west" you haven't been living in reality.

So we hit the spot here i think. Of course there are threats, like in any country, like we have in Poland. But we are doing perfectly fine without having guns. We don't play the police. We have crimes, you wont get rid of crimes totally – this is pure fantasy but If you feel unsecure then why is that? You don't trust the police will make it on time or maybe you think there are too much people out there armed to the teeth that may harm you. Think of it for a second. Arming the teacher like Pratt said would just let the hell loose, Schools are not battlefields where children are to be caught between madmen and teachers exchanging fire. If he would kill him with a headshot then that's fine but this takes training, years of training and people who are trained are police people. Anyone else is just adding to the carnage. Where this all will lead you to? Leave armed solutions to the police and make sure you disarm everyone else in this country. Stop acting like a paranoid, you're supposed to give example to other countries.

I am so appaled that you would call a guest on your show "stupid." I'll not be watching your show any longer. As a journalist-and I don't believe you are a journalist so much as just a tv show host-I can not get over your inablility to respect different views from your guest. Again last night you just badgered your guest and ranted. There is no excuse in you being so rude to a guest. I cannot believe that your superiors would allow you to behave like that. It may be the 'drama' factor that may help the ratings. I have no idea as to why your superiors all allow you to treat a guest with such disrespect. Last night was just like the night before. I did not watch last night. I just viewed the clip on CNN. I will always watch Anderson Cooper but I will go over to FOX for my 8:00 viewing. You really need to learn your manners when it comes to a program on CNN. It's not even about the issue. It's your behavior. Yesterday I posted on fb and made the comment that it was the first time I'd ever taken the time to contact anyone in the media. Evidentaly, you did not have time to read my post and watch your show again and try to see yourself as the rest of America saw you. Watching you lin the video clip reminded me of watching some sort of trash tv show. I believe I speak for many American's when I say that we would appreciate a more balanced presentation of the issue being discussed. You appear to want to give a very dramatic editorial. That's not why I watch news programs. Again, I was disappointed and disgusted with your behavior. American's don't need your opinions and passions screamed at them from the tv screen. I agree with you on the issue of additional gun control laws but the way you attempt to present it is a real turn off. My husband and I have guns in our home for protection. We live just south of the capitol city of Jackson, MS. The crime rate in Jackson, MS is some of the worst in the country. Most of that is attributed to drugs and the economy (in my opinion). However, there have been numerous home invasions in the past several years. Two have occured within less than three miles from our home. That is why I am prepared.

After seeing this left-wing nut on the air I wonder how he got his own show. This idiot is like Hannity on Fox! Take Piers Morgan off the air. He has no respect for his guests and can't make a logical argument.

Sam wants every teacher in America to have a gun while they teach their kids A,B,C's and when some gun fool walks into the class room with an automatic killing machine, SAM thinks the teacher will surely win that gun fight. YEP. SAM IS AMERICA'S DUMBEST PERSON.

I agree with many commenters, that Pierce lost it, was rude and not productive.

It is understandable that in looking for someone to blame, that rather than blame the shooter (who no one can understand because he is not rational), people like Pierce cast about for someone else to blame.

They pick the NRA because they support the 2nd amendment and gun rights.

Even if we ban assault rifles and large capacity clips, it will not stop crazy people from getting weapons and killing innocent people.

There are 300 millions guns already out there.

There are untold numbers of knives and bats.

Remember Oklahoma – he blew up a daycare with fertilizer and fuel oil.

Remember 911 – they took down to buildings with box cutters.

Since you cannot stop crazy people from trying to kill themselves via mass murder, it actually makes sense to try to stop an incident once it is underway.

If the principal had a firearm, when she charged off from the meeting when she heard shots, she might have been able to save her life, and her students.

Why is that so hard to see.

Banning various types of weapons won't stop these types of incidents.

This guy could have used 10 round clips – and it wouldn't have made any difference.

He didn't stop until he took his own life.

Other school massacres have used knives – not even guns.

While not popular – peoples anger at guns is misplaced.

You cannot pass a law to make being crazy against the law – and we have a lot more people now, and therefore more crazy people.

Rick wants every teacher in America to have a gun while they teach their kids A,B,C's and when some gun fool walks into the class room with an automatic killing machine, Rick thinks the teacher will surely win that gun fight. YEP. RICKA IS AMERICA'S DUMBEST PERSON.

Did these unarmed teachers have even any chance at all of stopping the bad guy?

Why are you afraid of law-abiding teachers who spend eight hours a day with your kids already also having a chance to defend and protect them? If an armed police officer was in the room, would that be ok?

I agree, but that's missing my point. If the anti-gun people wouldn't mind having an armed police officer in the classroom, then that means they are ok with guns in the classroom and only have a problem with who has that gun. So then the question is why they are fine with one person having a gun in the classroom but they don't trust a teacher who already spends eight hours every day with their kids.

See, the thing is, the anti-gun crowd doesn't actually care about protecting kids. They only care about banning guns. If they actually cared about protecting kids, then they wouldn't be pushing agendas and laws that wouldn't have stopped this guy. An armed person in the classroom may have stopped this guy. But the anti-gun people don't care.

What are you talking about? How can a teacher defend her students with a handgun vs. a crazy lunatic with automatic rifles that can spray bullets faster than the teacher can say "Stop"? The teachers have no chance if they have guns in the class room against automatic weapon.

Now you're saying the teachers should have automatic weapons? YES?

Okay, now do they need bullet proof vests too?

You're stupid. Just stupid. Sorry to be derogatory, but this is sad to see how dumb we are in America.

I have to agree with John.
As for the AR-15 not being considered an assault rifle, I think they're splitting hairs. Any gun that can fire up to 100 rounds per minute ought to classed as an assault weapon. Some of those kids in Newtown were hit as many as 11 times each, none less than 3 times each! That's not counting the ones hitting the teachers and the ones used to break through the secured main door. All within the matter of a few minutes. If that's not an assault rifle, what is?! This is a very destructive weapon that should not be in the hands of ordinary citizens. It is because of the NRA, and others of the same ilk, advocating them to be allowed in the possession of ordinary citizens that caused this whole catastrophe in the first place. If the shooter didn't have access to such weapons, this wouldn't have happened, mental condition or not! Don't you guys get it?!
Now, just a couple days ago, an 11 year old boy was found carrying a gun to school. Even though it was unloaded, he had the ammo with him. This is insane! How can kids that young get access to weapons? Very scary the way things are going in America today! I suspect it will only get worse before it gets better. I doubt that we have seen the last mass shooting. How much longer before the next one, a week, a month?
Have yourselves a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!!! Time to kneel and pray now, and celebrate the birth of Christ.

Would a non-"assault weapon" have stopped this guy from killing defenseless little kids? Like if he only had 10-round mags for his guns? Or maybe if he only had a 5-round shotgun? 5-round shotguns aren't capable of killing defenseless little kids, are they?

Now who's looking at logic here? Think of the lawsuit if the armed teacher misses the bad guy and kills another teacher and a kid. Bad guy gets away. Or blows away a kid with a toy gun. Etc. The math....bad + bad = worse.

Clyde, you have just blamed me for the tragedy in Newton, yet my AR-15 is sitting in my safe. You are blaming an innate object for the actions of a deranged person. People are going to kill people it is a sad fact. If someone was shooting at me I would prefer to have better fire power and shoot back.
All differences aside Merry Christmas

It's YOU 30 Rounds Plus that refuse, deny, acknowledge that if THAT type of weapon was available to be sold on the market, that deranged killer or his dead mother WOULD NOT HAVE gotten their hands on the damn thing in first place. What does it take to get this in your thick skull here? NO ONE IS SAYING TO BAN GUNS HERE! JUST THOSE TYPES OF WEAPONS. Sheesh! What does it take to get you and your ilk to GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem is the mentality of people like you that think if these weapons would not be accessible to criminals if we pass laws to this effect. These laws only apply to law abiding citizens. There is and always will be a black market where criminals can get them. That is if they don’t get them from our government. Do you recall recently where our government sold the Mexican drug cartels these types of weapons? One of which was used to kill a border patrol agent. Explain to me how passing a law to ban assault style weapons and high capacity magazines would curb the black market on these weapons

You are correct bad + bad = worse. As in bad guy with a gun + unarmed citizen = worse. Bad guy with a gun + armed citizen =a chance of survival. Do you really believe that a teacher trained to use a fire arm would ever pull the trigger if there were a possibility of hitting anyone other than the assailant? These unarmed teacher were huddled in the corner trying to protect their students and were ruthlessly shot. It is a tragedy and my heart and prayers go out to all affected. But had any one of the adults had the choice to arm themselves and did so there would have been a much different outcome. Children behind her, gun in her hand, shooter at the door. Bang, bang, bang, bang. How did that end, we will never know. These teachers were not given that option, neither were the soldiers at Ft Hood whose weapons are checked upon entering the base. What seems to elude you is the fact that most if not all of the victims of mass shootings are UNARMED.

I will take from your silence that you concede. Many of you were asking Wessreid to name anywhere that an armed citizen has stopped a mass shooting. First note is when one is stopped it doesn’t get as much attention as when one is not. But actually there is a case very recently in fact. Do any of you remember the shooting at the Clackamas Mall? The shooter shot himself after killing 2 others. There was a loaded rifle lying next to the shooter when police arrived. He shot himself when an armed citizen drew his weapon and pointed it at him. Source; oregonlive.com

In the aftermath of the Town Center shooting, off-duty mall security guard Nick Meli recounted how he drew his pistol and aimed it at the gunman, deciding not to shoot for fear of hitting an innocent bystander.
Meli told The Oregonian he was not especially worried about a shooting when he went to the mall with his gun but just followed his routine: "keys, phone, wallet, gun."
"You never know what will happen," he said.
All of you anti gun people may also note that he didn’t blast the place up as you seem to think responsible gun owners would. None of you seem to pay attention to the word “responsible”. Do you think any of the mall patrons were glade Nick Meli was carrying that day? I wasn’t even there and I am glad that he was.

Yipee Skippy! That doesn't explain why the semi-autos should be legal and sold legally. You've been avoiding the question here. Need I repeat again and again and again????? WHY THE NEED FOR SEMI-AUTOS with multi clips and mags legal??!!

You seem to be the one avoiding the question of how outlawing these weapons would take them out of the hand of criminals. I have answered your question and will do so again. If someone breaks through my door at night, home invasion, you have heard of those haven’t you, I want to shoot back with more fire power the person coming through my door. You sir would be at the mercy of the assailants. I would not.
By the way I do not belong to the NRA.

Wow I am not sure how to continue. You are the one avoiding the question. You have yet to answer mine. I have answered yours repeatedly. My answer in simpler terms. Bad guys have “SEMI-AUTOS” therefore I want equal or better fire power.
I again have answered your question, will you now answer mine?
it is funny to me, i have repeatedly answered your question and you have yet to answer mine. is it that you don't have an answer?

well first of all most guns are simmi automatice and so is my assult rifle now i ask you this if the atf with the cia and fbi dose not have enough since to shoot in to a building full of kid with there fully automatice rifles witch is a reel assult weapon and thay are better than me to on one. remmber waco .where thay killed 27 kids and 2 of then were new borns and 50 othere people.thay also used ch gas on them for 6 hours and i know those poor little kids realy suferd you keep thing about banning those weapons and think on this in china the goverment tells them thay can only have one kid and if dies no more for them. if your old enough remmber the people in china throwing rocks at tanks thay have know guns at all you dummy

First of all, to Ococoob, thanks for your contributions to this dialogue.
To Dewey Abbott, you have so many spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and such a dire lack of punctuation, it is difficult to make out what you are saying.